Jubokko
by Wai-Jing Waraugh
Summary: A mysterious mononoke is killing people in a small farming village - that happens to be Kayo's home town. How deep will the medicine seller have to dig to discover the truth? Horror-action-mystery, some violence and themes
1. Prologue

_Yes, I know, people who have already read some of my stories are waiting for me to finish what I've started. I was never good at doing that. Sorry. I just finished watching this series, and I wanted to do something about it. When you get hit on the head with one of those smashing-pumpkins of ideas, you have to seize that Newton-esque moment and run with it._

_Rated T, for the violence you know there will most likely eventually be. And yes, the title is a give-away. Research it if you want to ruin the surprise - I don't blame you. Really, I don't. - but otherwise all will be explained. Most likely. Just like the other fics will all be finished one day as well._

_Promise._

_Enjoy._

_~ Wai-Jing_

* * *

**Mononoke - Jubokko**

_..._**  
**

_The eyes that see …_

_The ears that hear … _

_The mouth that speaks… the truth…_

_Many men believe in the truth, and yet it is questionable whether the truth really exists. For it is the nature of man to manipulate and perverse with his words the actual events that have taken place. It is, perhaps, not an exaggeration to say that all that comes from the mouth of man is in some way false, twisted by his own ego. Man's nature is flawed, and he is so inseparable from his faults that all he does is tainted by them. Surely, Man cannot speak the truth._

_ Some would say that only virtuous men of a more refined spiritual temperament, such as holy men, can utter the truth from venerated lips. And yet, priests can lie, and have lied out of love, in order to give false hope to the people, and also out of spite, to take advantage of the people. Holy men may be closer to god, yet are still close enough to be besmirched by the uncleanliness of their fellow Man's callous nature. _

_ Perhaps, then, truth is only possible when it comes from the very mouths of the Gods? And yet… the stories of old tell us of deceptive gods who tricked the people into worship and made false demands. Even the gods are compelled sometimes to lie._

_ Who, then, is the creator of truth?_

_ Man, or Gods? Or perhaps…_

_

* * *

_

**Prologue**

It was a splendid day in autumn, a day whipped into being by chill breezes which already whispered with memories of winters past. If a bird flying high in the sky had looked down upon the treetops below him, he may have been mistaken in thinking that the forest was on fire. The branches of the maples were a brilliant mass of colour, rippling like flame across the plain. A rough track wove its way beneath a canopy nodding with tongues of fire which spat out sparks here and there, in the form of leaves that fell with bright, jagged edges, falling to the ground to be trampled underfoot, like so much ash.

_Tk-Tk… Tk-Tk… Tk-Tk…_

Usually this forest path was quite heavily frequented, as it led to and fro between the rice fields and the homes of the villagers who tended them and relied upon them. And yet, at this time of day, only one person trod this particular section of the path. The forest floor was hazardous, fraught with twisting tree roots that ran across the narrow track, seemingly searching for a careless foot to snare and upset; yet this person navigated them with complete confidence, never faltering, his wooden _geta_ resonating with each step. Like the sound of the _taiko_ drum being played:

_Tk-Tk… Tk-Tk… Tk-…_

The man suddenly stopped in the middle of the path. It is impossible to say just why. Perhaps the heavy box he bore upon his back urged him to pause for a moment's rest. However, he did not seem to be bowed beneath its weight; he hefted it with ease. He merely seemed to have stopped on a whim. A new forest breeze sprung into being, playing with wisps of the traveller's hair, making the twin tied tails of his bandanna flutter before it, like the wings of a hapless butterfly. Yet the man stood unmoved. He tilted his head back slightly, as though he were tasting the breeze. Savouring the bitter tang of cold winter in its depths, like the aftertaste left in an emptied teacup. Seemingly satisfied, he split his lips and spoke - to himself, to the breeze, to the woods; it's impossible to tell to whom he addressed these words:

"The maples this year… are… nice."

This was spoken quiet and low, a matter-of-fact statement; and yet, this man seemed to imbue this simple phrase with a strangely fitting sense of mysteriousness. It was a voice which would have befitted the chill autumn wind, had it been able to speak words.

Did this man expect some reply? Whether he expected it or not, he nevertheless got one; something in his pack seemed to rattle and chatter, as though it contained something alive. It was a wordless noise, and yet this cryptic answer seemed to please the man; he smiled a knowing, somewhat indulgent smile, rather like a parent beaming at something clever his child has said. Whatever his pack had told him, the man seemed satisfied. A moment later, the sound of the _taiko_ drum struck up again:

_Tk-Tk… Tk-Tk… Tk-Tk…_

The man continued along the path.

* * *


	2. Chapter 1: Chance Meeting

**Chapter 1**

"Aieee, why does it have to be so hard?! Can I help it if I'm not used to this sort of work?"

A young lady tramped the forest path with a weighted tread, her back bowed, her naturally-pouty lips stuck out even further in an expression that was doubtlessly the very face of dejection. Still her mind repeated to itself, in the voice of the tavern owner:

_"Huh, Kayo-kun! Put the saké down gently, can't ye? Don't slosh it about like it's a bucket of well-water!"_

"Eh, just who does he think he is, calling me 'Kayo-_kun_' after only two days of working there! Even the mistress used to talk to me better than that!" Whether that was true or not – which it most likely wasn't – it made the girl feel more indignant, and therefore better justified in her self-pity. "Can I help it if my hands aren't used to doing this sort of work? I usually _did_ carry the water in from the well, and I-"

She paused. The statement had reminded her of something, had made her go back with her mind to her old home… the Sakai family household…

_Tamaki… a girl who had died, and been buried beside the well…_

It made her shudder to remember how, every day when she had gone to draw the water, she had come so close to that final resting place, to the source of the evil that had lurked within the house… the _bake neko_…

The sun was starting its descent towards the horizon. The last of its rays were lancing through the trees, illuminating the trunks beneath their halo of red fire and casting heavy shadows upon all beneath them. Kayo shivered again and muttered to herself: "I hate having to walk home this time of day. I wish this wasn't the only way back to the village…"

Though the gloom was increasing and the twisting tree roots seemed to rear their heads like snakes out of the undergrowth, Kayo's feet continued on, stepping among them with an ease made possible by frequent practice. Her steps, however, were more hesitant now. A large smudge of shadow came into view on what had hitherto been a featureless road. A small roadside shrine stood in the afternoon shadows, the weathered faces of its idols wearing seemingly sinister expressions in the gathering dusk. Kayo sighed.

"I hate having to walk past that. It gives me the creeps, somehow."

Normally she didn't mind shrine statues. Sometimes they even looked quite cute. But these statues were particularly old, cracked and crumbling, overgrown with lichens as though they were diseased. It was unnerving to look at them even in broad daylight, but even more so at this time of day, and with the frame of mind Kayo was now in. She drew parallel with them and watched them closely as she walked past, even though she really wanted to look away; it was as if some strange fascination compelled her to look, as though the statues would come to life and leap upon her if she turned her head away for even a moment. There were a pair of Inari foxes, crouched low over their heavenly gems, looking somehow demonic with their slender faces and pointed ears. There was the saintly bodhisattva, her face quite pretty despite its solemnity, staring benignly out from beneath the dust and grime. There were several _jizo_ statues, guardians of workers and wanderers; their sightless gaze seemed to look straight through all before then, staring straight through Kayo and the trees, towards an unseen horizon…

Kayo's eyes took in all of these, one by one, and she felt a faint wave of relief wash over her as her eyes slid from what she knew was the last one…

Her eyes fell on another figure, one that she hadn't noticed before. It was stranger-looking than all the other statues put together. Though it stood in a tranquil pose, something about its appearance was unsettling, somehow full of impending motion; a mass of wild hair floating around its elongated ears, and its eyes, which were downcast, were surrounded with strange markings. Kayo stared and stared. She was sure that that statue had never been there before… though it looked somehow familiar…

Suddenly, the statue raised its head. Kayo stopped, frozen in horror, as slowly its eyes opened, revealing a steady gaze radiating from two narrow pupils. It looked back at Kayo, and it smiled.

"KYAAAAAA!!!!"

Kayo stumbled away from it so violently that she tumbled over backward and landed in a heap in the ditch on the other side of the road. Slowly, recovering from the shock, she sat up, kneading her back where the tree roots had indented themselves upon her tender young flesh.

"Ow, ow… that really smarts… but what was th-"

"Let me help you up."

"Huh?!"

Kayo glanced up in surprise. The voice that had unexpectedly come out of nowhere was accompanied by a hand which stretched out towards her. It was pale and slender, with unusually long nails which were tinged almost bluish, so intense was its pallor. It was a hand she recognized, as was also the voice she had heard, and the face she saw beyond the hand. It was the face of the statue, half-hidden by an unruly mane of long hair, under which a streak of red was visible running along the ridge of the nose, and more crimson lines rimmed both eyes heavily, like a parody of a _noh _mask painted onto living flesh.

"M-Mr. Medicine Seller?!"

She took his hand and he hauled her easily to her feet, his grasp was surprisingly strong, given the slim hand from which it came. He had stepped back a bit from her, and she looked him up and down, making sure it was really him. There was no mistaking the brightly-coloured garb, filled with a strange geometric pattern that made the eyes wander over it dazedly until they bumped into each other; there were the heavy wooden _geta_ that should've hindered his steps, yet didn't, clinking softly each time they touched the ground; and the heavy-looking box that he always carried on his back, full of drawers containing all manner of medicinal concoctions. He looked exactly the same as she remembered from last time, from the smallest wisp of hair to the very fold of his clothes.

"I-It was you standing next to the _jizo_?! What are you trying to do, frighten people to death?! What do you mean, standing so still next to a bunch of statues? You shouldn't be allowed to do that! You may be a powerful man, but even you can't pretend to be a god!"

The medicine seller was silent during this tirade, and silent for many moments more after it had ended. As Kayo stood glaring at him with her fists bunched, he merely smiled a small smile and said at length: "Ah… is that so?... I see."

"Just what do you see? You're still putting on that mysterious act! Didn't I tell you girls aren't impressed by that? Sheesh! You're a hopeless ca- Ah!"

Kayo had taken a step and fallen over again, this time tripping over a tree root and falling flat on her face.

"Ow, ow!" she uttered weakly as she sat up, wincing and rubbing her head. "Why do such bad things always happen to me whenever you're around?"

* * *

A little way along the road was a small shelter for travellers. Its walls were made of woven straw, and its roof was thatched with the same material. There were large gaping holes in both walls and ceiling, and the entire hut indeed looked like it needed the large tree growing behind it to shelter it in turn. Both tree and hut looked like they had been standing on that exact spot long before the forest had sprouted up around them. Despite its forlorn state, people frequently stopped at this paltry shelter. The rice-planters often took their midday meal here, since the road ended at the paddy fields just around the corner. There was no one else here today, though occasionally a gentle splash could be heard from a distance as a farmer plunged a hand into the flooded fields to plant another stem of rice, and more peasants filtered past along the road on their way home, looking rather like large, hump-backed turtles as they stumbled past in their wide-brimmed straw hats, shoulders hunched down after a long day bent over the paddies. Thick, dark streaks of mud still clung here and there to their work-worn limbs.

The shelter contained only a single long stool against the back wall, and on this, Kayo and the medicine seller sat. Kayo wore only one sandal; the other was in the medicine seller's deftly-working white hands. The seller had set down his pack and taken from a drawer a length of hemp rope which, despite the fantastic contents Kayo knew the drawers contained, seemed disappointedly ordinary, except that it was dyed an eye-scorching shade of crimson. The medicine seller wove it into the gaping hole in Kayo's sandal where the previous strap had been torn off during her fall; he tied it off expertly and handed it back to her.

"Thank you very much." Kayo slid it back onto her foot, marveling as she did. "Wah, perfect fit! Great job!" Her eyes went back to the man before her, and it occurred to her that the rope looked the same as the cord he wore tied around his sash. _He must keep more as a spare,_ she realized. "It's a wonder that a medicine seller and exorcist can do something like that!"

"These things require only precision and knowledge. Once all is known and the actions are clear, there is no difficulty in either."

"Yeah, yeah, I've seen you work before, and there's nothing 'easy' about it. What are you doing out here? It feels almost like you are following me. Are you here to exorcise more _ayakashi_?"

Her voice took on a fearful tone. No matter how many times she saw them, she was still not accustomed to the presence of _ayakashi_; there were so many and they were so unsetting and sinister – in her experience, downright _murderous_ – and ever since her previous encounters with the medicine seller, she had rather dreaded the possibility of more of them suddenly jumping out in front of her at any moment. _Rather like the medicine seller jumped out at me_, Kayo thought to herself. The medicine seller didn't answer immediately – _what an annoying habit!_ Kayo muttered inwardly – but he leaned back on the seat, folding his arms across himself, and said:

"I'm… just travelling."

"Hmph. Somehow I don't believe that. That last time, on the sea passage to Edo, you were 'just travelling' as well." The incident still lived vividly in her mind; she had seen enough _ayakashi_ on that trip to last her a lifetime.

"Oh, yes; what are you doing so far from Edo? You said on the boat that you were going there to look for a job."

It was Kayo's turn to pause before answering. She looked at her feet, at the new red strap on her sandal, without really seeing it; her shoulders slumped forward and her bottom lip stuck out again. "I-I went to Edo for a while, but… it didn't really work out…"

_"Aiieee, Kayo-chan! Look what you've done! That thing was expensive!"__  
"Oh! I-I'm so sorry!"_

_"Kayo-chan, these seams are all crooked! And you say you used to work as a seamstress?!"__  
"I-I'm sorry, I don't know how that happened!"_

_"Kayo-kun! Geez! If you're going to work here, you can't be such a klutz!"__  
"S-Sorry Sir!"_

_"Kayo-chan, the mistress doesn't want someone around the house who always spills the tea."__  
"I'm very sorry, I-I'll try not to let it happen again!"__  
"Well, we're going to make sure it won't happen again."__  
"Oh. I-I see."_

And so it had gone. Kayo sighed vexedly, yet said in a voice that sounded somewhat defeated: "The worst thing is I only have myself to blame. I didn't do too well in the big city – I guess it was a bit ambitious of me – so I thought I'd come back to my home village. Don't get me wrong, I don't want to stay stuck out in the backwoods for the rest of my life – that would be such a waste of my looks!" She seemed to pause unnecessarily for a moment, as though waiting for him to agree; when he didn't take the prompt, she rattled on: "But I'll give it a bit of time first, so I can learn how to become a beautiful wife someday, ready for some rich, handsome guy to come along and sweep me off my feet." Her tone then changed from almost flippantly full of vanity, to a more humble, confidential tone. "Still, until that happens, I have to earn my own living, and I just don't seem to be a very good worker any more. I used to be good with my hands, but now it's like they won't do what I tell them to. I don't know why it's happened all of a sudden, it's not like I'm old and infirm; my hands still don't have any wrinkles yet – though they're not as white as yours," she added, darting an envious glance at the medicine seller's slender, almost dainty hands.

"Is that so."

"What kind of thing is that to say?! You're supposed to say something comforting!"

"Right. I suppose so."

"Huh! You're completely hopeless!" Kayo sighed again. "Mr. Medicine Seller, do you have anything to cure clumsiness? Any medicines you could give me?"

"Ho. Well, there _are_ a few medicines that are good for that—"

"Really?!"

"—but they are all for the old and infirm. If I give them to a younger person, there might be side effects, and your skin could end up all bloated. And we don't want that, not if you're waiting for your future husband."

"Oh. Right." Kayo had started up exuberantly in her seat, but now slumped down in it again.

"However… medicine may be no good, but a charm…"

"You have a charm that might cure clumsiness?"

"Hmmm. Hold on a moment."

The medicine seller reached into a drawer – the same drawer as before, she realized – and pulled out a handful of something. His hands twisted something together, pulled at something; she caught a glimpse of something shiny between his fingers, and there was a soft _clink_.

"Hold out your right hand, please."

Wondering all the while, Kayo did as she was told. She felt the medicine seller's cool fingertips against her wrist, then something was slipped over her hand.

"There we are. A special home-made remedy."

"Oh!"

It was a charm of sorts, made of more hemp-string in the same bright-red as her sandal, and also a string of black rope this time, woven together with small, intricate knots to form a bracelet. Dangling from it was a single shiny gold bell.

"Heh! It's really cute!"

"Well, Kayo-san makes it so. Let me tighten it a little; Kayo-san has such delicate, slender hands, it might slide right off."

"Ho, really! Perhaps you're not such a hopeless case after all!" Kayo blushed slightly at the double-compliment. It was true, the bracelet slid down her wrist a bit as she moved her arm. With steady hands, the medicine seller took in the slack of the string, smoothed it between two slender nails, and instantly the excess string was gone, as though his fingers had acted as the twin blades of shears, though the string was still whole with no signs of being cut at all.

"W-Wow! How did you do that?! I want to learn how to do that, I could use it in sewing!"

"Trade secret."

"Hmph. You're no fun. Oh- that's right! How much do I owe you?"

"Hmmm. Some… time… is fine."

"Huh? I can pay you now-"

"It hasn't worked yet. I don't accept payment under false pretences. You can pay me when you know it has worked."

"Eh? When will that be?"

"When the bell rings."

"What do you mean? Doesn't the bell already- oh." Kayo nudged the bell with her finger. It didn't make so much as a sound, not even a muffled rattle. "But I heard it before-"

"-when I held it. I don't need treatment. You do."

"I-I suppose so."

"However, Kayo-san, the charm won't work on its own.

"Eh? There's something else?"

"Medicines for physical ills only work when they are taken into the body. For charms and spells which cure the mind and psyche, the patient must allow their soul to accept the treatment. Otherwise, all the charms and remedies I could possibly give you could never work. Take that to heart."

"Oh. R-Right. And just how do I do that? You're being mysterious again, you know."

"Really? I suppose… yes."

Kayo merely sighed, and looked again at the little bell swinging soundlessly from her wrist.


	3. Chapter 2: The Tree

**Chapter 2 – The Tree**

"Kayo-kun! Hey, Kayo-kun!"

"Huh?" Hearing her own name, Kayo glanced up. A group of four men stood in the road, the foremost of which Kayo instantly recognized. "Oh, Daisuke-kun. Hello."

The man she addressed looked like a farmer; he was stockily built, broad across the shoulders and well-muscled from long days spent toiling in the fields. Though his features were somewhat roughly-hewn, there was something of a roguish charm about them that made them attractive. Indeed, Kayo had discovered since her return to the village that in her absence, Daisuke had become the fixation of most of the local girls, but he seemed, somewhat to her dismay, to have taken a rather keen interest in the 'girl from the big city'. He had already paid her an amount of attention that made her feel slightly uneasy in his presence. From her own point of view, she couldn't be less interested. Daisuke was a lout and a bore.

"What are you doing out here?" he asked her, his voice and his stance full of self-assured swagger, as per usual. "And who is that with you?"

"Well, this is Mr.- er, Medicine Seller," Kayo answered somewhat awkwardly, realizing that she didn't actually know the medicine seller's name. _If he actually has a name,_ Kayo added to herself, and remembering that she had only ever heard him introduce himself by his occupation, she felt less guilty about the omission. "I know him from the household I used to work for. We had a situation there with an _ayakashi_, and he took care of it for us."

"Eh, so this is the guy who killed the _bake neko_?"

"Oh, you know about it, then?" Kayo responded, though not with any real surprise. She had discovered soon are returning that the entire village already knew all about the haunting of the Sakai family. "I guess the story has spread most everywhere now, even all the way back here. It didn't take long to become well-known."

"So this is _that_ guy?" Daisuke asked, regarding the medicine seller with a great deal of skepticism. "Miyuki-chan said that you had told her that the guy was seriously weird, and from the looks of it, you certainly weren't kidding."

"Erm, that isn't quite what I said," Kayo stuttered, blushing slightly and inwardly cursing Miyuki, a fellow waitress at the local inn, for having such a big mouth.

"Really? According to Miyuki-chan, that's exactly what you said. But if you want to act polite, go ahead. I guess girls who have lived in samurai households feel the need to put on airs around _common_ folk."

Kayo clenched her teeth, biting back all the indignant remarks she really wanted to say. "What I _did_ say is that he was _extraordinary_, and that's quite true. Mr. Medicine Seller was simply amazing. It was very difficult, but in the end he managed to slay the _bake neko_ single-handedly."

"Huh, so you know some special skills, do you?" Daisuke addressed the medicine seller directly for the first time. He had been sitting silently throughout all this, as though he didn't even notice that he was being talked about. Now he turned to Daisuke with a slight smile and answer in his usual manner:

"I'm just a simple… medicine seller."

"Well, at least _you're_ honest, at any rate," Daisuke smirked, obviously unimpressed by this supposedly 'extraordinary' individual in the funny clothes and make-up.

"Yeah, yeah, you always say that." Kayo ignored Daisuke and turned on the medicine seller with a reproachful look. "Perhaps you're just a simple _medicine seller_, but as an _exorcist_, you're second to none. I bet no other exorcist in Japan has anything to equal your demon-slicing sword."

"Eh? You carry a sword?" Daisuke drew a step closer and grew more attentive. Despite himself, this piqued his interest; it was unheard-of for anyone beneath the samurai class to carry a blade. "Can I see that?"

"Of course not," Kayo replied on the medicine seller's behalf; he didn't seem to mind that she had taken over. She said with a confident sense of authority on the subject: "In order to reveal the blade, there would have to be a _mononoke_ nearby, and he can't draw it from the sheath until he knows its Katachi, Makoto and Kotowari."

"Is that so?" Daisuke looked both satisfied and disappointed, as though he had expected some such reply. "You have to know all that before you can even _do_ anything? Sounds like a lot of posturing and not much action. I've never thought much of men who only sit around and think all day without raising their lily-white hands-" his eyes darted triumphantly to the medicine seller's own, folded in his lap "-to do any _real_ work. If I were an exorcist, I'd just slice straight through every demon I encountered without having to pause to think about it. _Real_ men tackle a challenge head on."

"At least for _some_ men," Kayo broke in caustically, "thinking is actually an _option_." She regarded Daisuke with a pointed glare, and he looked sullen. It was possible that beside her, the medicine seller's smile deepened a little. "Besides, the only thing you've ever had the chance to attack in your entire life is the fields under your feet. Actually, I was meaning to ask – what are you doing with _those_?"

The '_those_' she referred to were the implements Daisuke and the other men were carrying. Daisuke himself was holding a _nagimachi_, a long wooden shaft tipped with a crescent-shaped blade. His father, Daitaro, was holding a similar weapon. The man Kayo recognized as their next-door-neighbour, Tatsuya, held what looked like an_ odaichi_. All these weapons had edges that were cracked and chipped, and the metal was dull; they looked ancient, as though they had been used during the Warring States period. The only implement amongst them that looked like it was in working order was the heavy axe held by the fourth man, whom Kayo didn't know on sight.

"We're here to help Harada-san take care of the tree," said Daitaro, speaking up for the first time, "and we would do well to _remember_ that." He gave Daisuke a reproachful glance; the younger man demurred meekly. Shooting Kayo and the medicine seller a last contemptuous glance, Daisuke went over to rejoin the other men. "These tools are on loan from the village archives," Daitaro continued to Kayo. "They are relics of war and are certainly quite old, but they should get the job done. I'm not sure if you know Harada-san, Kayo-chan. He's the local woodcutter."

Harada certainly looked the part; even bulkier than Daisuke, he held his axe with an air of proficiency, and he had a solitary, gruff manner about him. His steely gaze took in the relatively-diminutive forms of the woman and the medicine seller, and he gave them the barest inclination of his head, as though such weaklings were barely worth his notice. Kayo shrugged off a slight shiver of unease. She vaguely remembered hearing about a local woodcutter, though she had never actually met him; she remembered long ago, when she had been a child, her grandmother telling her that if she misbehaved, the woodcutter would come to take her away and leave her alone in the middle of the forest, never to find her way home again…

"The tree?" she asked, returning to the present. "This tree? What do you mean, 'take care' of it?" The men had indeed gathered around the large tree that stood behind the hut. Kayo got to her feet and followed them.

It looked like it could very well be the oldest tree in the forest. Although not particularly tall, it was gnarled and twisted, like an elderly old man hunched over and hobbling, hulking over the roadside. Its bark had a wrinkled appearance and was ash-grey; it bore only a cluster of leaves here and there on its branches, in stark contrast to the plentiful growth of its neighbours, and instead of the intense russet-red colour of the other maples, these few leaves were a dirty reddish-brown, like the colour of rust.

"It's gotta go."

Harada's hoarse bark made her jump; he had sidled up beside her and was looking over her shoulder, eyeing the tree with a cold, professional gaze. "Y'see how it hangs over the road? Half the trunk has been hacked away at the foot long ago, and it's on a lean, bendin' over the road. Could fall over and kill some hapless traveller some day, so best to clear it out now."

When Kayo looked closer, she saw that as he had said, a large, hollowed-out section of the tree was missing, right above where it disappeared into the ground, as though a large branch very close to its base had been hacked off long ago. A very large knot-hole was left as a result, like an old battle-scar. It appeared to have made the tree slightly unbalanced; it indeed tottered over the road at an unwieldy angle.

"Is that… really necessary?" Kayo asked hesitantly.

Somehow, she felt sorry for the old tree. Though she had never particularly noticed it, she had always remembered it standing right here, beside the old straw hut. The village had changed quite a bit since she had left – kids she had known when she was young, like Daisuke, had grown up, and some of the older folk had died. Old fields had been abandoned and new ones dug in, families had left town, a few new ones had come; all of which made her feel displaced, like a foreigner in her own birthplace. Yet this tree and this hut were exactly the same as before – slightly more ragged and forlorn, perhaps, but just as much of a constant presence as she remembered them being. They were like monuments of her childhood. Besides, despite its age and deformity, it was still quite a handsome-looking tree. It had grown here so long, struggling to defy the years that rallied against it, still firmly rooted and standing tall. After all that time, to just come along and needlessly fell it seemed… unfair, really… almost _cruel_…

"Yes, it's been decided," Tatsuya interrupted her thoughts. He was a portly man and a loud-mouth, though he was also a man of some wealth and had much general clout in the village. He was often turned to by the other townspeople as a kind of all-purpose decision maker, as he had had some education in his youth. "The thing is nothing but an eyesore and a nuisance. We should take down that old shelter in good time, too. It's more made of holes than straw. But this old thing is going first. We can't have it endangering the lives of the locals every day as they pass it on their way to work. It's planting season, and we need every able-bodied worker we can get."

He darted Kayo a small glance that seemed to suggest that she ought to be out helping to plant the fields as well, instead of whiling away her working hours in an inn house that catered mostly to outsiders and nether-do-wells. Kayo shrugged and looked away. She would much rather be carting about bottles of saké and scrubbing guestroom floors than standing knee-deep, her arms sunk to the elbow, in sticky, smelly black mud, and no snide comments or sidelong glances were going to make her change her mind.

"I'll get it going," Harada said, swinging his axe over his shoulder in a practiced motion, and fingering a spot on the bark that looked like a likely place to strike. "I'll make the first cut, then you boys can hack away to your hearts' content." It seemed rather strange to Kayo for him to address Daitaro and Tatsuya, both of whom were well into their forties, as 'boys', but Harada seemed to be firmly in control of this operation, and he was delighting in his role as leader, in his own rough way. "Best stand back, young lady, or you might end up full of splinters." With a last slightly remorseful look at the old tree, Kayo did as she was told.

"Excuse me, Harada-san," the medicine seller's serene tone suddenly asked from the road; he had at some point wandered over to join them, but kept his distance. "Isn't that a bit… _dangerous_? After all, it's a very old tree."

Kayo's eyes darted to him in surprise. Usually she associated the medicine seller and the word 'dangerous' with the presence of an _ayakashi_, but there was obviously nothing like _that_ here. Kayo did a double-take, and looked at her bracelet. Had she just heard… a bell? She jiggled her wrist. The bell there jolted about silently on its string.

Harada looked over his shoulder. His lip lifted in a sneer at the medicine seller's appearance. He didn't much like such questions directed at him by one who was obviously just an idler and a wanderer. "It can be dangerous, if you don't know what you're doing. But I do. At any rate, we're not going to tear the whole thing down today. We're just gonna knick the trunk. Trees have things like veins which carry water up to the branches. If we sever the veins, eventually the tree will start to wither and die. Then we can chop it down piece by piece so the branches don't rain down on passersby, or burn the whole thing down to ash once it dries out. Any ol' bloke with an axe couldn't do it though. You could hack at it a thousand times and never kill it if you don't hit it on the exact right spot, like I'm about to. I'll cut a main artery, an' then these fellas here are gonna cut a ring right round the tree, separating the branches from the roots, so it starves until it dies. Anyone who isn't in the know and can't swing a blade can just keep back." With this shot of scarcely-veiled disdain, the woodsman turned back towards his hapless victim and raised his axe readily.

"T-This doesn't seem right, somehow," Kayo murmured softly to herself as she stood well-back on the road, watching reluctantly. The three other men were standing a bit ahead and to one side of her, so she could see their reactions; Daisuke was waving about his _nagimachi_ to test its balance, an almost sickeningly blood-thirsty expression on his face, and even Daitaro and Tetsuya looked satisfied, almost smug, as they waited for the impending blow to hit its mark. "I know it's just a tree, but it's still alive, isn't it?"

She glanced at the medicine seller beside her, but he didn't reply. He didn't seem to be paying any attention to her; he was looking at Harada, who was standing before the tree with his feet brace firmly apart and his axe hefted high, ready to strike. The medicine seller's keen, red-rimmed eyes were fixed on his back, and his lips moved, as though he was muttering to himself, though if he was, he was speaking too quietly for Kayo to hear. However, she did hear that same sound again – a kind of soft clatter, like two hard surfaces nudging against each other. Or perhaps a muffled peal of a bell.

Harada inhaled deeply, the muscles in his thickset arms bunched beneath the axe's weight; then he seemed to gather his strength, and hurl it all at the tree's prone trunk, bringing the heavy axe-head down with an audible sound as it mowed through the air. There was a loud _thwack!_, like a blunt force hitting wood.

Harada had stopped moving. Kayo couldn't see what damage he had done, as his form blocked her view of the tree. Then, suddenly, there was a loud, sharp _snap!_

The medicine seller's eyes widened.

The axe-head fell to the ground, its haft snapped clean through a hand's width above the blade.

Harada was staring before him in disbelief. Before he could hit the tree, something had lodged itself against the handle of the axe, stopping it as though a hand had reached out to block it; not only that, but the handle had been snapped in half like it was no more than a twig. It was impossible – he must be the strongest man for miles, and he had been sending the axe-head downwards with a double-handed swing. _No blunt edge save a thick sheet of steel could've blocked the cut so easily-_

He looked down at the end of the axe-shaft in his hand. Something was curled around it. It looked rather like a tentacle, as thick as his wrist, yet it was almost indiscernible from the broken shaft it was wrapped around, for it was likewise made of solid _wood_.

Slowly, this _thing_ unraveled itself, moving as fluidly as any living animal, until it 'faced' Harada at head height. Then, like a serpent striking, it suddenly flung itself at him, uncurling like a whip.

The axe shaft fell to the ground beside the blade.

With a horrible yell, Harada was launched backwards. He flew past Kayo, making her flinch, and kept going until he hit a tree on the other side of the road. His cry stopped, terminating in a sickening crunch. Slowly, he slid down the trunk, leaving a smear of red on the smooth bark, and fell in a heap in the ditch beside the road. His face was contorted in a fierce snarl, full of pain and fear. The back of his skull was crushed in.

"Eeeeehhhhh?! H-Harada-san!!!"

"W-What the hell-?"

"How did-… What did-… When did-…How…?"

"All of you, get back on this side of the road! Quickly!"

The medicine seller's sharp, incisive shout cut through the confusion, like a gale scattering clouds. Kayo looked at him and saw that his raised left hand was full of what looked like slips of paper. She gasped and backed up quickly. That stance usually foreshadowed a flying barrage of-

"Quick, do as he says!" Kayo yelled to the men; though still uncertain, they haltingly moved to do as she said, shooting nervous glances at, and keeping well away from, Harada's corpse in the ditch behind them.

The last man had barely gotten out of the way when the medicine seller thrust out his hand in a wide sweep from right to left. One after another, paper charms flew from his fingertips. They formed a perfect line down the middle of the road, stretching from where it disappeared around a bend to their right, and continuing past them to where it ended in fields, as though the charms marked an invisible boundary that divided the road in half.

"Yeesh, I told you to warn people when you're about to do that!" Kayo exclaimed, trying to catch her breath after her mad scramble to get out of the way. The men simply gaped, looking on in awe, or perhaps in bewilderment.

"Hmmm, sorry," the medicine seller murmured in reply, his apology not sounding sincere at all. "However, in any case, there was no time. Something is still out there, and I wanted to put a barrier between us and _it_ as soon as possible."

There was a slight hum, like the sound of several writing brushes moving across paper in unison. Markings appeared on the paper charms at the centre of the line; those directly in front of the tree. A row of black-ink eyes stared up at the treetops above.

"It came from _there_."

There was a soft _clink_. The demon-slaying sword was in the medicine seller's hand; the bell hanging from its hilt chimed softly as he raised it.

_That was what I heard before,_ Kayo realized with a start. _He had his sword out of its box from the beginning. He_ knew _something like this would happen!_

"T-That's the 'demon-slaying sword'?!" Daisuke asked incredulously. "Is that even big enough to cut down a rat?!" He brandished the _nagimachi_ that he still held, its blade nearly as long as his arm. "If anything comes at us _I'll_ slice it in ha-"

"Daisuke, shut up!" Daitaro's curt tone cut his son's boasting short. "We don't even know what that thing was, or how it did this to… to Harada-san." His voice faltered a little. Harada had indeed been one of the most physically-powerful men in the entire region. If he could be killed so easily by… by whatever this _thing_ was, then the rest of them were certainly in peril. "Mr. Medicine Seller, you have some experience in supernatural matters. Is this the work of… some sort of, er… _demon_, perhaps?" He uttered the word somewhat sheepishly, as though he were almost embarrassed to suggest such a thing.

"Preposterous!" Tatsuya spluttered, jabbing a trembling finger at the medicine seller. "Look at the length of that pathetic sword! Against whatever _this_ is, this man has no chance, he's just playing at some sideshow tricks! A _demon_ couldn't have done this! To do something as, as… _brutal_ as this, in daylight-"

"Quite so. It is quite unusual for a _mononoke_ to lash out so fiercely straight away, and to move so stealthily." The medicine seller didn't look at the others; he watched the tree intently. "But then, it isn't really _daylight_ any more."

Indeed, the light had been swiftly fading in the west; at his words, as though it had been waiting for this cue, the sun seemed to instantaneously sink below the horizon, and the shadows deepened. Daisuke edged a little closer to his father.

"As to what it is or isn't," the medicine seller continued, "I don't know yet. I haven't yet discerned its Katachi. Though I have the suspicion that-"

He stopped abruptly in mid-sentence. A leaf drifted through his field of vision. It dropped downwards at a leisurely pace - his eyes never leaving it - until at last, it fell to the ground, coming to rest right on top of a paper charm. The charm's markings instantaneously turned from black to red, then the ink seemed to run, flooding the paper until it was completely filled. The charm crumpled into the dirt, disappearing without a trace. The medicine seller's brow furrowed slightly.

"-this one will be quite difficult."

There was a fluttering sound, then a keen _swish_, and the medicine seller's blue sleeves swirled like wind-tossed waves. He brought his sword down in a cutting motion, and though it was still in its sheath, the leaf that had been floating down directly over his head was split in half in mid-air. The medicine seller's nostrils flared; a metallic scent filled the air around him. The ground before him was peppered with a spray of red droplets; the dissected leaf fluttered to the ground, and where it landed, a small puddle formed around it. This leaf was not brown like the others on the old tree had been, but was as red as any of the other maples; perhaps even more intensely crimson than any other. It was a dark, sinister-looking shade of red – the colour of freshly-spilled blood.

"W-What-"

Somehow sensing something behind him, the medicine seller whirled around.

Kayo turned as well, and when she saw what he saw, she shrieked out loud. The other men likewise exclaimed despite themselves. Even the medicine seller's jaw went slightly slack, his eyes wide with surprise, as he took in the chilling sight.

The face of Harada's corpse, which had before been flushed in death by broken capillaries beneath the skin, was now white as bone. A number of slender, snake-like organisms, rather like impossibly long-bodied leeches, were fastened onto him all over, and they writhed spasmodically, as though in rapture. These tentacle-like apparitions were brown, and had a wood-grain texture all over, as though they were large vines; their forms trailed off into the blood-soaked earth at the corpse's side. However, as the medicine seller watched, the dirt's colour paled, until it was no longer stained with a hint of red. These_ things_ were sucking up all the blood.

"T-This is… _jubokko_..."

_Clack_.

The teeth of the figure-head on the medicine seller's sword clinked firmly together.

The Katachi had been identified.

* * *

**_Author's Note_**:_ So, that would be the violence I mentioned. I hope it's not too over-the-top. Then again, I don't think it's any more shocking than the death of the retainer in _Bake Neko_ (the one who fell from the ceiling - can't remember his name)_

_I don't know what staues are used on actual Japanese roadside shrines, so I made some up for the previous chapter, based on stuff I've read. Sorry if I got it wrong._

_Again, if you look up 'jubokko', you too shall know what the demon's Katachi is, but if you don't want spoilers, please wait a bit longer, all will be revealed soon._

_Thanks for reading, hope you've enjoyed it so far, any reviews would be greatly appreciated. I'll try to write more soon. ~ W.J._


	4. Chapter 3: Salt and Splinters

**Chapter 3 – Salt and Splinters**

Silence stayed the air after the sword gnashed its teeth. The gorging vines seemed to have heard it, though how they could have was unfathomable – after all, they only made of plant-matter! Nevertheless, they stopped feeding, perhaps because Harada had been sucked dry; the body that had seemed so solid in life now looked incredibly frail. Its thick arms were now reduced to limbs that looked like knotted ropes, elbows jutting out beneath the deathly-white skin, as though the body had already been reduced to little more than a skeleton. There were at least a dozen slithering tentacles around the body; they simultaneously detached from their prey and swiveled around in the medicine seller's direction, as though they were watching him warily. He surveyed them calmly, raising his sword before him in readiness. However, the tentacles seemed to think that an attack wouldn't be worth their while; they dropped, and swiftly disappeared into the earth, the dirt closing seamlessly over them. The only evidence they had even been there at all was the remains of their feast.

The medicine seller lowered his sword, his shoulders still squared, but his stance relaxing slightly, as though some of the tension had run out of him. Whilst Daitaro and Tatsuya cautiously approached Harada, the former swearing under his breath and the later blustering loudly, Daisuke stayed where he was, staring at the medicine seller's sword, as though it had shrieked curses at them all rather than merely clicked its teeth. It seemed he now had new respect for the 'pathetic little sword'.

Kayo was used to the sword becoming animated – in fact, she expected it now – and she didn't pay any real regard to the corpse of a man that she had barely even known and not particularly liked; she had seen before the damage that a _mononoke_ could inflict. Instead, she looked at the medicine seller, and repeated the word he had said:

"_J-Ju-bokko_…?"

The medicine seller returned her gaze and nodded. "Yes. That is its Katachi – a _vampire tree._"

The men heard this and turned to him with a start.

"V-vampire…?!"

"A tree?! A tree did _this_?!"

"_Jubokko_? Don't they only grow on battlefields?"

The medicine seller acknowledged Daitaro's question with a slight nod. Although he merely seemed to be answering, there was a hint of respect in his voice as he replied: "Yes, normally they do. For a tree to become the _mononoke _known as a _jubokko_, usually a lot of blood needs to be spilled near it, which the tree absorbs and, having feasted on the souls of the dead, craves more such nourishment, which it then obtains from living passersby."

"B-but," stammered Tatsuya, "there hasn't been a battle here, never; there's been no state of unrest in this region. This isn't that sort of place. This is a good, peaceful place to live."

"Something had to have happened for this tree to become a _mononoke_," the medicine seller pointed out. "It doesn't have to have happened recently. It could've happened long ago."

"I'm telling you, nothing happened! You're full of tosh, telling made-up stories to appear impressive! I th-"

Tatsuya didn't finish his sentence; he fell with a loud '_oomph!'_ on his generous rump as the medicine seller suddenly darted forward, shoving him out of the way. There was a loud _thwack_ and the medicine seller's _geta_ slid backward over the dirt as he absorbed a heavy impact. Tatsuya, cursing and brushing the dust from his clothes, looked up to chastise him, in time to see him deflect another branch with his sword's sheath.

The branch was jabbing at him rather like a spear tip, its pointed end darting forward on a long, serpentine limb. The medicine seller dodged another strike, deflected one off the side of his sword; suddenly deciding it had had enough, the branch withdrew, slithering back into a hole in the ground. To her alarm, Kayo realized it had sprouted up right on the line of paper charms; another one had disappeared into the dust of the road.

"They are tree roots," the medicine seller muttered through gritted teeth, his sword still raised defensively. "It's breached the barrier by going undergrou-"

He stopped, sharply taking in a breath. A petulant hum had filled the air. All the paper charms around them started to turn red, and one by one, they crumpled into nothing.

The earth trembled, and a ring of tree roots broke through from under the surface, thrashing wildly from side to side as though they were searching – looking for more _prey_.

With a rather high-pitched yell, Daisuke lurched forward and slashed blindly at a root; the _nagimachi_'s blade glanced off it, but it took a chip out of it as it did. A chunk of wood fell to the road. The wooden tentacle recoiled as though in pain.

"We can cut them!"

Daitaro swung his own weapon at another root; Tatsuya thrust his _odaichi_ at another with rather less gusto, apparently afraid to actually hit it in case it decided to hit back.

The medicine seller leapt upward to dodge a vine that descended upon him, spearing downwards at the spot where he had just been; it became embedded in the ground, and he slashed at it with something in his left hand – a paper charm, which he was holding clenched in his fist like a dagger. The edge of the paper somehow cut right through it; it wriggled weakly, then slumped over on the ground. As though sensing one of its fellows had fallen, two nearby branches made a stab at him simultaneously. He swerved to one side, avoiding them both; one impaled the other on its tip, making it writhe. He deflected another that slammed itself down, letting it glance off the side of his sword as he rolled clear of it. He leaped immediately to his feet, turning as he heard a stealthy rustling behind him.

Nearby, an exploratory tentacle wrapped itself around the blade of Daisuke's _nagimachi_. As it pulled tight, all its coils were cut by its edge; although the weapon was old, it was still sharp. Having learnt from its fellows that the blades could hurt them, another branch clutched onto the handle of the weapon instead. Daisuke wrestled with it, but though he was strong, the _jubokko_ was apparently much stronger; it plucked the _nagimachi_ from his hands, and coiling itself firmly around the handle, brought it slashing down toward Daisuke's head-

_Thwack!_

Another _nagimachi_ hurtled through the air and knifed straight through the tentacle, severing off its tip and pinning it to a nearby tree trunk. It squirmed in its death throes, then dropped Daisuke's blade. Daitaro calmly strode over, tugging his own weapon out of the tree and handing his son the other he had recovered. Daisuke shot him a terror-stricken look, realizing how close he had come to losing his life; Daitaro gave him a reassuring glance that looked rather like a grimace, then both men launched themselves at the approaching branches again. Tatsuya seemed close to coming undone; he had lost his footing and was scrambling madly backwards in the dirt, hacking desperately at a root that pursued him, slithering swiftly after him.

"There are too many," the medicine seller grunted to himself as he ducked a branch that swiped at his head. "We can't fend them off for much longer; we need to-"

"I've had enough of this!"

At that voice, the medicine seller turned his head sharply; he had lost track of Kayo in the mêlée. Now she was standing in the middle of their group, a furious scowl on her face, fumbling for something in her sash. He remembered seeing that expression on her face before, back in the Sakai household, right before she had faced down the _bake neko _and thrown a pot of-

"Take _this_!"

Kayo pulled a drawstring bag from her sash and, loosening its ties, sprayed its contents in a wide circle. The medicine seller raised his sleeve before his face just in time; a rain of coarse powder bounced off all the men's backs, like grit whipped up by a strong wind. The salt hit most of the tentacles and covered the ground in a white crust; every visible part of the _jubokko_ thrashed, seemingly in agony, and it instantaneously dove beneath the earth, disappearing from sight.

The medicine seller recovered himself quickly. "It's not gone, it's still out there. Hurry, we have to get out of the range of its roots. Head out towards the fields; we need to find a safe place away from the tree."

"R-right," answered Daitaro, grabbing his son's arm and pulling him down the road; Daisuke didn't need much encouragement, he jogged at his father's heels, transferring his _nagamachi_ to his left hand so they could easier run side by side. Tatsuya didn't need telling twice; he staggered to his feet and barrelled off after them without a backward glance. Kayo hesitated. The medicine seller wasn't running. He was watching the tree, as though waiting to see if it would make another move.

"Go," his low, steady voice told her, speaking without turning to face her, his eyes still fixed on the_ jubokko_. "I'll be right behind you."

Kayo gave him an anxious glance, then did as he said, yelling over her shoulder: "You'd better be, or I'll be coming back for you! Ah!-" She stopped again, pausing beside the old straw hut. "Your medicine cabinet!"

"Leave it! I'll get it!"

Whilst she ran, she turned and looked back. True to his word, he was following her, but he was running past the hut without stopping, and his pack was still there-

He extended a hand. A slip of paper flew into it – no, not just a slip, a long string of paper; she realized it was attached to the medicine cabinet, it was one of the handles. He pulled sharply; the pack followed the tug of the strap, and the paper contracted, losing length rapidly – _like he did with the string earlier_, Kayo realized – until it came in close enough for him to hoist it onto his back, slipping the now normal-sized straps over his shoulders. Kayo turned to look ahead at the road, and as she did she heard a sound behind her, a high whistling, rustling noise, like the wind through treetops. It sounded almost as if the noise was getting louder, gaining on them. With a feeling of apprehension, she looked back at the old tree. Every branch on it was straining after them, boughs reaching out like cruel fingers, extending to a length that should've been impossible. Kayo realized that as fast as they were running towards the fields, the branches were stretching at a much faster rate; they must surely reach them before they could escape-

In mid-step, the medicine seller half-turned and flung out his right hand. The foremost branches were intersected by white streaks – twigs rained down on the ground, razed off by the paper charms that he had hurled like daggers. The severed branches didn't just trickle sap like an ordinary plant - copious amounts of red blood welled up, bubbling from the wood as though from cut flesh. The advance of the branches was halted; they fell away as the group left the forest for the clear space of the fields.

Although Kayo had had a head-start and was running as hard as she could, the medicine seller soon drew level with her. "Why were you carrying that bag of salt in your sash?" he asked her almost conversationally. Even though his voice was low, she could hear him easily over the thump of his _geta_ and her sandals on the packed dirt of the road – he didn't even sound out of breath. In contrast, Kayo answered in between gasps:

"Ever since – the _bake neko_ – I thought – it might – be useful – to always carry – some in case – an _ayakashi_ – suddenly turned up…"

"Well, it _was_ useful. It probably saved our lives back there. You did well."

She turned her head to look at him in surprise. He was smiling at her; it looked as though he really meant it. She managed a weak grin in return. She hadn't felt like she had been doing anything brave at all – in fact, she had been terrified.

"Er, j-just where - are we going?" she panted. She was starting to feel puffed-out and wanted to stop soon.

"I'm not sure. I don't really know this area, but it looks like Daisuke-san is leading the way."

* * *

"This is your idea of a safe place?!"

Daisuke rubbed the back of his neck, but returned Kayo's gaze glare-for-glare. "Hey, it was the best place I could think of, the village is in the other direction and it beats the open fields."

"We could've gone to the inn. It's just up the road."

"And up a hill. I didn't want to make my father and Tatsuyo–san run all the way up that big slope."

"I could've managed it."

"S-speak for yourself, Daitaro-san! I appreciate your consideration, young Daisuke."

"Besides," Daisuke added smugly, "I like this place better."

They were all seated around the lone small table in a tiny noodle stall beside the road. It was a simplistic structure – sturdier than the straw shelter, but not much bigger – with a partitioned-off kitchen out the back, fabric flaps for a door, and long benches out the front where travellers often squatted with steaming bowls of noodles, cooked quickly in a broth with their choice of accompaniment and sold very cheaply. It was popular with locals and the more humble foot-traffic upon the road.

In truth, Kayo thought to herself, the place was quite pleasant, even if it _was_ a place Daisuke apparently frequented. It had been built here after she had left the village, so it was a new experience for her. She had seen similar stalls all over the place during her own brief travels – there was usually at least one in every town, and several in the big cities, particularly in Edo, where there must be tens, if not hundreds. She had passed this one on her way to and from work over the last few days, and thought how cute it looked, crouching among the rice paddies with the forest at its back. The inside felt pleasantly homey, with cheery red lanterns hanging out the front and a few paper fans pinned up on the thin walls in lieu of decorative scrolls. She liked it better than the dim, dank interior of the inn where she worked, with its dingy guestrooms furnished with musty bedding and dining hall reeking of saké fumes.

"At any rate," piped up Tatsuya in a whinging tone, "is this _set-up_ really necessary?!"

The 'set-up' he referred to was the spread of strange contraptions that covered every inch of the floor of the dining space, glimmering mysteriously in the light from the charcoal brazier.

"What are these things, anyway?" asked Daisuke, poking at one such device that was perched on the tabletop with the end of a chopstick. To his consternation, it swayed, jangling its bells, then jumped in the air of its own accord and floated gently down the table. The men watched it in amazement, Tatsuyo and Daisuke both grimacing. Whatever these things were, they were _freaky_!

Kayo and the medicine seller merely smiled as it came to rest on Kayo's outstretched finger, bowing to her politely as it landed. "This is Mr. Scales," Kayo explained to the others, using the same knowledgeable tone of voice she had used to explain to them about the sword. These men might think of her as 'Kayo-chan' or 'little Kayo-kun' – Daisuke was an egotist, Daitaro overly-serious, and Tatsuyo a pompous oaf – but in this at least, Kayo knew a lot more than the rest of them. "Haven't you seen scales before, Daisuke-kun?"

"Chee," Daisuke sneered, "what are scales going to do? What is there to weigh?"

"It doesn't measure weight – it measures distance, our distance away from the _mononoke_."

"Distance away-? But we know how far away it is. The _jubokko_ is a tree. It's rooted to the ground; we know exactly where it is."

"I-I guess that's true," Kayo admitted, somewhat crest-fallen.

"Eh, why bother messing with all this, then?"

"Tools of the trade." The medicine seller spoke up. "Forgive me for acting out of habit. It is better to be safe… than sorry."

"Heh, you see?" Tatsuya said in an aside to the other men. "It's all just a front; he's acting mysterious on purpose. Tries to impress the girls." Tatsuya shot Kayo a patronising look that clearly said that he considered her to be one such girl.

Kayo huffed, and turned to the medicine seller. "What do you mean, 'better safe than sorry'?"

The medicine seller didn't answer. He was calmly staring out through a gap in the shutters at the black, wind-tossed silhouette of the nearby trees, watching the leaves shift restlessly in the dark.

* * *

The old tree stood serenely beside the road, its branches all but motionless in a light breeze. The moon tonight was hidden by cloud; the shadows at the tree's foot looked like they were denser than mere darkness, like they had depth. The hollow at the tree's base seemed to swallow the smallest fragment of light, as though the hole followed the roots down several _sun_* deep.

In the dust of the road, beyond the scattering of salt, several splinters lay on the ground, inanimate, severed from wooden tentacles. They looked perfectly mundane, lying like broken twigs among the road's many ruts. A piece of wood a hand's width long slowly started to drip. Blood welled underneath it, seeping into the dirt. Suddenly, it jerked upright, standing perfectly on point. Several other similar fragments followed suit. After a moment, they began to sink into the earth. They burrowed downwards into the soil, like knives sinking into flesh. They soon disappeared without a trace.

Further down the road, out near the fields, the footpath was featureless, except for a vague puddle here and there. Unremarkable, except that if you looked closer, you might notice that the puddle wasn't the usual murky colour of mud, but a rich, dark brown – even in the gloom, it looked almost _red_…

* * *

**_Author's Note:_**_ * a sun__ is an old Japanese measurement, about the equivalent of a foot._


	5. Chapter 4: Noodles and Nostalgia

**Chapter 4 – Noodles and Nostalgia**

* * *

"Know the limitations of your enemies,  
Know the limits of your own strength;  
Know these things, and in a thousand battles,  
You will have a thousand wins."  
- Sun Tzu's _The Art of War_

* * *

"Excuse me, sir, do these, er, _things_ belong to you?"

"Yes, they do."

"I was wondering if, um, it were possible for you to… clean them up?" the waitress asked timidly. Behind her, the cook, who was also the owner of this stall, could be heard banging pots about and ranting over the racquet they made; words like 'vagabond' and 'hoodlum' and 'audacity' floated around the screen at frequent intervals. "These things are pretty," the waitress continued haltingly, looking about at the shining spread of scales at her feet, "but they make it hard for me to serve out front, with them all over the floor like this…"

"Heh, just step around them, Kisa-chan," Daisuke told the girl in an overly-familiar tone. "You can manage that, I'm sure. You have lovely, slender ankles."

Kisa looked flustered and lowered her eyes, but Kayo rolled hers cynically. "Geez, he is such a creep!" she muttered to herself.

"B-but," the girl wavered, not sure what to do. "He told me to come and ask you…"

"Hmmm. Is that so?" The medicine seller turned in his seat to poke about in the drawers of his medicine cabinet. "Sorry for the imposition. Perhaps your boss will let me leave my equipment like this, if I make it worth his while. Could you ask him to reconsider, and give him this from me? Please? I'm counting on you."

As he said it, he looked at her very steadily, with a gentle appeal in his tone; Kisa actually blushed, but held his gaze, taking the paper packet he held out to her almost shyly. "I-I'll see what I can do," she stuttered. "I'll just go and ask him." With another small backwards glance at the medicine seller, she darted into the kitchen.

"Eh, what way is that to treat women?" Daisuke scoffed, slouching in his seat. "Women don't want a gentle touch. They like a man who's forceful, who's forthright and says what he thinks."

"A shame, then, that you always neglect to carry out the 'thinking' part," Kayo shot back.

She ignored Daisuke's indignant exclamations of "F-father, did you hear that?! She-"

Instead, she turned to the medicine seller. "So, what did you give her?"

The medicine seller smiled his enigmatic smile. "Something… _useful_."

* * *

"Eeeehhhhh?! This is-"

Gohei, the noodle stall's owner and cook, was peering into the paper packet; his wide, pudgy face wore an expression of ecstatic joy.

"It's…good?" Kisa asked uncertainly.

"Mmm! Very good!" Gohei pulled his hand out of the bag, thrusting a fistful of something under her nose. "Look at these bonito shavings! Such fine quality! I could usually never afford anything like this – we normally buy the lowest grade, and dilute it with fish stock. But this is very fine, the taste should be fantastic – if we keep stewing the soup made from this in the same pot over and over, just adding more water as it needs it, this lot could last us three months, and keep its flavour for all that time!"

"Really?" Kisa said, politely examining the flakes he held before her face. "I didn't know medicine sellers carried this sort of thing-"

"He must be a food supplier as well!" Gohei rubbed his hands together, sending stray bonito shavings flying. "I'd love to know what else he's got!" He favoured her with an oily smile. "Treat those guests nice, Kisa – make sure they pay their way, but make them feel nice and welcome, and I might have a chat with that medicine seller about his wares after we've fed them up. You make better deals with a man when his stomach is full. Well, go on, you silly girl, don't make them wait!"

"Y-yes, sir!"

Gohei swatted Kisa back out of the kitchen. She gave the medicine seller a low, somewhat awkward bow. "Thank you sir," she said, "we appreciate your offering and in return bestow on you our warmest hospitality. If you permit, I'll get you all a fresh pot of tea, and perhaps you would like to, um, purchase something to eat?" she suggested warily, trying to carry out Gohei's almost contradictory instructions as best she could.

"Hmmm! That's an idea!" Tatsuya declared, clasping his hands eagerly.

"I suppose, since we're here anyway," Daitaro agreed.

"It seems a funny time to think about food, but I guess, since we _are_ here already," Kayo allowed, realizing all of a sudden how hungry she was. "That's right – Mr. Medicine Seller, I can spot you dinner, as payment for the charm."

"Ah. That's not necessary. I can pay for myself."

"B-but, I have to pay you for it anyway, and since we-"

"That's alright. I can wait for payment a bit longer."

"Well, if it's all sorted, can I take your orders?"

"Nabeyaki-udon."

"Um… I'll have oyakodon."

"Ebi-soba for me, Kisa-chan."

"The same for me, thank you."

"Aburaage-udon."

They didn't have long to wait before Kisa returned from the kitchen with five steaming bowls of noodles in broth. Gohei actually followed her, bowing and uttering compliments with a broad, oily smile on his face.

"Thank you very much for your contribution, sir," he addressed the medicine seller. "I used some of it in the broth. It will have improved the taste manifold, I'm sure."

"Is it safe to eat?" Kayo asked in a quiet aside to the medicine seller, wondering over what exactly Gohei had added and eyeing her bowl dubiously.

"Should be… _quite_ safe."

Kayo didn't look very reassured, but since Tatsuya was already slurping noodles with great enthusiasm and volume, she took a tentative mouthful of her own.

"Ah, normally I wouldn't ask so early in the meal, but are you all paying together?"

Everyone paused eating to fumble for their wallets. Kayo watched curiously as Gohei came to the medicine seller last of all. Instead of money, he handed over a very small wooden box.

"Will this do?"

Gohei gasped loudly as he raised the box's lid; his face registered disbelief. "T-This… will definitely suffice! My heartiest thanks, good sir! Let us know if there is anything else you and your friends would like!" He backed into the kitchen, bowing with each step and clutching the box to his chest. Everyone was looking across the table with curiosity.

"What did you give him this time?" asked Daitaro.

The medicine seller smiled as he grasped a piece of fried tofu with his chopsticks. "Something… _valuable_."

Through the partition, they vaguely heard Gohei exclaiming: "_Matsutake_! Real, dried _matsutake_! Kisa-chan, do you know how much these things _cost_?!" It seemed Gohei had his own idea of what constituted a 'valuable' item, and the medicine seller had somehow tapped into it.

Without further ado, the company around the table focused on the bowls before them. They ate in silence, broken by the occasional slurping sound from Tatsuya and Daisuke, the later earning a stern glance from his father every time he did so. _What a strange group we are,_ Kayo thought to herself, surveying them over the rim of her bowl. Well, the medicine seller was strange with anyone, or alone, for that matter. But that aside, it was strange to be sharing a meal with these people she had known as a child, yet hadn't seen for years.

_It shouldn't seem strange to share a table with all these men,_ she told herself. _I shared a table with far stranger men on the boat to Edo. Actually, come to think of it, I don't remember the medicine seller joining us for mealtimes much on that trip. I assumed at the time that he was seasick, but surely, now that I think about it, since he's a _medicine_ seller… I suppose it's just another way in which he's unusual…_ He certainly seemed to be enjoying his meal at that moment. He seemed to handle the chopsticks with an adept touch – _probably used to handling medical implements,_ Kayo decided – and he ate with apparent relish.

After a while, Daitaro suddenly put his chopsticks down, and cleared his throat. "This is all good and well," he said in his serious tone, "but after this meal is over, what shall we do for the night? Perhaps we should indeed do as Kayo-kun suggested, and take rooms at the local inn? After all, if we take the road back through the forest, won't the tree just attack us again? And it's the only way back to the village…"

"We could circle back around the fields," Daisuke suggested, speaking with his mouth full; Kayo averted her eyes in disgust.

Tatsuyo shook his head vehemently. "At this time of night, we'd be in more danger of falling down a levy and drowning. Besides, there could be more of these 'demonic tree' things out there. They might not be just in the forest; who's to say the rice stalks won't shoot up from under our feet to grab at us?"

"It's certainly possible."

An ominous silence followed the medicine seller's words. Even if Tatsuya and Daisuke were trying to remain skeptical, they had already seen enough not to take any chances.

"Could that… really happen?" Kayo asked in a small voice. "I mean, people work in the fields all day, so surely, if that could happen…"

"Quite so. I knew Kayo-san was more intelligent and observant than all these men put together." Kayo blushed; Daisuke and Tatsuya spluttered; Daitaro just looked more serious than ever. The medicine seller continued on unperturbed. "Lots of people walk along that road every day, and have done for years. Why then does the _jubokko_ only attack now? There must be a reason for this rampage. One of you must possess that reason. In order to rid the world of this _mononoke_, I must learn that reason from whichever of you that is."

He brandished his chopsticks dramatically, his red-rimmed eyes gazing piercingly at the other diners around the table. "The Makoto, the Kotowari – _let me ask you about them_."

Again, the table lapsed into silence, and everyone stared at the medicine seller. Kayo, who had heard a similar speech before, raised an eyebrow. "You know," she said, "It's far more impressive when you do that with the _sword_ in your hand."

"Hmm." The medicine seller lowered his chopsticks. "I suppose so."

"Why are you asking _us_ questions?" Daisuke blurted. "Aren't _you_ supposed to be the exorcist? Shouldn't you be giving _us_ answers?"

"If such were the case and you were the exorcist, there would be no hope for any of us."

"W-what was that?!" Daisuke was taken aback by this unexpected insult. Tatsuya coughed uncomfortably. Kayo giggled behind her hand. "Why, you punk! I-"

"That's enough, Daisuke." Daitaro regarded the medicine seller with a steady gaze; he didn't seem angry on his son's behalf, only curious. "Makoto and Kotowari – what are those exactly?"

"Makoto – the true circumstances that led a supernatural being, an _ayakashi_, to feed on human emotion, and thus become a vengeful _mononoke_. Kotowari – the _mononoke_'s reasoning, what its motives are and what will satiate it. In short, the Makoto is the person or persons the _mononoke_ focuses its hatred on; the Kotowari is the reason for this hatred. In order for true justice to be dealt in this situation, both these things must be known before action can be taken."

"Truth? Regret? Justice?" Daisuke repeated scathingly, obviously still bearing a grudge. "What a load of bull-crap. Sounds like a bunch of excuses from a coward."

"It may seem so to one who doesn't often deal with the truth, though the way you run off at the mouth, I assume you spend a lot of your life in regret."

Daisuke grumbled, but under his father's stern eye, didn't say anything.

"Just what is it you want us to tell you?" asked Tatsuya, hunching over his bowl almost defensively. He didn't seem too keen on telling anything too personal to the company around him, particularly to a stranger, and a strange person at that.

"Did anyone here harm that tree? Did anyone do something to any other trees? What was it that gave this tree such a hatred of someone here? I need all of you to answer me that."

"Does there have to be a stupid reason?" Daisuke asked sulkily. "Couldn't it just be a dangerous demon that enjoys killing? If it is, we could just go and burn it down without having to worry about this pointless truth-and-regret stuff…"

* * *

_The medicine seller didn't reply. For a moment, he simply stared at his bowl, as though he was actually giving Daisuke's words his utmost consideration. Then he glanced up. _

_Across the table, Daisuke was still talking, but his voice was muffled now, and his jaw was dropping lower and lower; before the medicine seller's eyes, the lower half of his face crumpled into sand and dropped away onto the floor. Daisuke didn't seem to notice, but kept on trying to talk, although now that he was missing his jaw and the gaping hole that should've been his mouth was rapidly growing. To his left, Tatsuya was slurping from his bowl; first the noodles hanging from his mouth began to trickle away into dust, then his entire head caved in and fell to the ground. _

_The entire room turned into nothingness, disintegrating like chaff blown by a strong wind. It seemed that reality had suddenly broken its bonds and, severed from its reasons for being, all existence simply ceased to be…_

* * *

"Well, if you didn't want to answer, you could've just said so," Daisuke muttered, his face red with suppressed anger. He had actually stopped talking and had waited for the medicine seller to reply for some time, but he never did; he just kept staring at his bowl, as though he was seeing something completely different to the rest of them.

"Very well." Daitaro broke the uncertain silence that had fallen; the medicine seller shifted his steady gaze to him, becoming attentive once more. "If it is necessary for us to give you some clues in how to defeat this _jubokko_, I shall go first. I am not sure if it is relevant; it happened so many years ago…"

* * *

_"Watch out!"_

_The young man gently guided the girl by his side around a large puddle in the road, stopping her from getting her white tabi and sandals soaked in the dirty water._

_"T-thank you. It's hard to walk in all this rain; the road is so uneven…"_

_"There is a little hut just ahead, but the roof is full of holes. However, there is also a large tree. We can stand underneath it until the rain isn't as heavy."_

_"Ok."_

_They scurried under the tree's canopy; its branches were so thick with bright-red foliage, barely any rainwater filtered through. The man and woman had to walk very close, side by side; they shared the one umbrella between them._

_"This is much better," the woman said, looking up at the crimson foliage over her head. "Can we put the umbrella down now?"_

_"Perhaps it's best to keep it up, just in case," the man replied. "I wouldn't want you to catch a chill, Saiko-chan."_

_The girl flushed slightly as he said her name, seemingly with pleasure. They stood for a while without saying anything, but it was a companionable silence._

_"What a magnificent tree this is," Saiko said after a while, turning to look at the intricate pattern in its bark. "It looks quite old, yet I have passed this way many times throughout my life and never really noticed it before."_

_"Hmm, me as well," the man replied contemplatively. "Would you mind holding the umbrella for a moment? I want to do something."_

_"What are you-?" _

_The woman watched in silence as he took a small knife from his belt and began to carve at the tree trunk. She watched the progression of the blade with rapt attention; gradually, her expression changed from puzzlement to delight as he carved into the bark first a simple picture of an open umbrella, then two names underneath it; one of them was her own. The man finished his work, and turned to face her, looking at her almost shyly._

_"If it means being able to stand here like this with Saiko, I don't ever want the rain to stop."_

_Saiko looked at him in amazement, then gave him her own bashful smile. "Me as well. If it means I can be with Daitaro-san-"_

_"Not '-san'. Just 'Daitaro' now, if you will in turn be my 'Saiko' from now on."_

_"Yes. Yes, I feel the same. If it means I can be like this with _Daitaro_, I never want the rain to end."_

_Like the two names carved in the tree's bark, the two lovers huddled closely together beneath the umbrella._

* * *

No one said anything for some time.

"I-I never knew that," Daisuke said haltingly, looking at his father wonderingly. This revelation completely contradicted his self-taught 'approach to women'.

"It was a nice story," the medicine seller said.

Kayo nodded in agreement. "Yes it was. I wish a man would do that for me. Not _you_, though," she added. Daisuke, who had had his mouth open, closed it again.

Tatsuya didn't say anything; he just looked at everyone as though he couldn't see the point in hearing all this.

"But was it at all helpful?" Daitaro asked the medicine seller. "At the time, it seemed like an acceptable thing to do, and the carving in the tree's trunk has long since healed so it is no longer visible in the bark, but if it hurt the tree… oh! Does this mean Saiko could be-"

Kayo looked at him in surprise. This was the first time she had heard a hint of alarm in Daitaro's voice.

"Y-you think Mother could be…?" Daisuke had paled visibly. Kayo actually felt a bit of sympathy for him; Daisuke may be a jerk, but at least he was concerned for his mother.

"No." At the medicine seller's definite reply, both Daitaro and Daisuke relaxed visibly. "That happened, as you said, quite some time ago. If it was only that, the _jubokko_ would have become active before now, and since I assume you have both used that road countless times over the years, neither of you can be the Makoto just because of that."

"Then we are not-?"

"You could be, but if you are, it is for another reason."

Daitaro seemed to think hard about this, but then he slowly shook his head. "I can't think of anything else that it could be, in regard to myself."

The medicine seller nodded, seemingly satisfied. "That is true. That means that someone else here has the answers I need." His startlingly-intense gaze roamed around the room; Tatsuyo, Daisuke and Kayo each felt a small thrill go through them as it fell on each of them in turn.

"So, the Matoko, the Katachi – _who will answer me next_?"

* * *

**_Author's Note:_**_ A small explanation. The scene in which Kusuriuri sees everything turning to dust is based on the vision he had in the '_Umi bozu_' episode. I wanted to replicate how in that episode, halfway through talking to Kayo, he had strange visions of standing on the ceiling with weird fish- and bird-head ayakashi nearby. In this case, he sees a manifestation of what would occur if Daisuke's words came true – if mononoke had no truth or regret, and just attacked for no reason. I hope that scene wasn't too confusing. Well, I suppose it was meant to be a bit confusing. But now that I've written this explanation, it won't be so confusing, so pay it no heed._

_And, the noodle dish the medicine seller orders is significant. In all seriousness, it is. Buffs of Japanese folklore should be able to figure out what I mean. It's a dish that is mostly associated with Osaka, as well as a particular type of yokai. That's all I'll say._


	6. Chapter 5: Childhood Memories

**Chapter 5 – Childhood Memories**

_The branches of the trees weave intricate patterns with their leaves, yet leave their roots unprotected, languishing in the shadows at their feet. Those roots grow down deeper and deeper, becoming increasingly crooked and twisted, mired in their own corruption. _

_Who will become trapped in that dark tangle, never able to outgrow the secrets that lie buried in the past?_

_And who will manage to break free of those repressed misdeeds, growing up towards the sun?_

_The light of truth shall nurture those grasping boughs, and determine… who it will be._

_The makoto… the kotowari…_

_Who will answer me about them?_

* * *

Daisuke gave a derisive snort. "Whatever. I'm not scared of you and your theatrics. Sure, I'll answer you, plain and simple: I've never done anything to hurt that tree, ever, so this 'Makoto' of yours can't be me."

The medicine seller gave a slight shrug. "Perhaps you've never hurt that _particular _tree, but surely a farmer who works on the land, particularly a strong young man like yourself, must've done some damage to the surrounding vegetation at some point. Perhaps there was some other incident…?"

Daisuke looked somewhat placated by his words. Kayo was surprised by them herself; it had sounded almost like a compliment…

"Daisuke," Daitaro interrupted, "if you can help, you should do so. At least make an effort."

Looking rather pleased that everybody's attention was now focused on him, Daisuke leaned back in his seat and admitted: "Well, perhaps, I've had a whack at some foliage in my time, but then you probably won't find a _working man_ around here who hasn't." His tone made the distinction implicit, and he looked at pointedly at the medicine seller as he said it. "There hasn't been anything major, of course, but…"

* * *

_The fifteen-year-old boy held the blade before him. Though he was young, his double-handed grip was firm, and he hefted the weapon's weight with some practice. His eyes steadily watched the target, his pupils locked upon the point at which he would strike._

_He inhaled deeply. A breeze ruffled the treetops. The moment it stopped, he started; he charged forward, raising the blade over his head, then brought it down in one smooth motion._

_"Chest!"_

_Thunk!_

_The blade sank deep into the target – a sapling a hand's width thick, bisected by a diagonal cut._

_Daisuke stepped back, grinning to himself. He'd made a test cut, just like a real samurai, and had cut the young tree nearly all the way through with a mere machete. Few men could do that, it took pure strength, which Daisuke certainly had; he was a stocky lad with muscle-laden shoulders, though he was still quite young._

_He yanked at the blade, grunting. "Damn thing is stuck-"_

_With a harsh whine, he tugged the machete out of the mutilated tree trunk. He inspected it somewhat ruefully. The blade bore scrapes down its length from the rough edge of the wood._

_"Not bent, is it? Maybe a bit, but Father shouldn't notice… it's only a _little bit_ bent…"_

_Having been thus temporarily distracted, he returned to his _real_ work, slashing at the low, leafy ground-cover about him. This field bordered onto the forest; he had to clear the encroaching undergrowth away before they could plant it. That sapling hadn't been anywhere near the field, it was true; but still, he had proved that he could almost cut through a young tree in a single stroke. Perhaps, given a few more practices, he would be able to cut right through it completely…_

_Over time, the young tree, its starving branches severed from its roots, withered and died. Five years of vigorous growth it had had, from the time it had been a mere seed in the soil, until it had at last broken the surface and begun the even more strenuous task of merely sustaining this life it had attained. Five long years of constantly reaching for the sun, yearning for life-giving rain, defying strong winds that threatened to uproot it._

_All this in vain, thwarted by a fifteen-year-old boy with a machete._

* * *

"How completely pointless."

"Says you," shot back Daisuke, glaring at Kayo across the table. "I don't see you out in the fields, helping to grow the rice that feeds you, while the rest of us break our backs at-"

"It _was_ pointless." Daisuke could argue with Kayo, but he couldn't argue with his father. "That explains why the machete always comes back so blunt every time you go out to clear the fields. Even if it is just a farming implement, any blade is expensive and hard to come by. It was reckless of you to treat _our property_ with so little respect."

"Y-yes father. Forgive me," Daisuke murmured dutifully, though shame-facedly. Kayo couldn't help but give him a gloating look; he scowled back at her. "Surely such a minor thing couldn't have caused the _jubokko_'s attack?" he asked the medicine seller sulkily.

"Who knows?" was the ambiguous reply. "_Mononoke_ don't have a conventional sense of logic. 'Mistaking kindness for malice', and such; any insult, however small, could cause them to nurture a destructive hatred."

Daisuke just frowned more deeply at him. "Honestly, we all know it couldn't be because of something as insignificant as that. You could've just said so. There's no need to make everything you say sound so mysterious. Besides, isn't this stupid 'Makoto-thing' more likely to be someone who did something drastic, like Harada-san and Tatsuya-san? Harada-san was the one who actually tried to kill the tree, but Tatsuya-san here was the one who ordered it cut down in the first place."

"W-what are you saying?" Tatsuya stammered in the wake of this unexpected accusation "I will not take the blame for this! It's not like I'm the village head or anything! We had a meeting of all the council of elders, and it was unanimously decided that the tree had to go. I was merely elected to supervise the operation, and even that appointment was only by chance-"

"So you've never had anything else to do with that tree, Tatsuya-san?" the medicine seller politely interrupted. "It seems you've lived here all your life, and you are a man of some stature around the village; your affairs must take you along that stretch of road quite frequently, since you have so much to do with local matters."

The medicine seller's words apparently soothed Tatsuya's ego. He tried to look modest as he replied: "Well, I do pass that way every so often – usually on my way to my supervising duties and such, or to sort out matters on the other side of the valley. I have taken on a variety of judicial duties in the region; I was lucky to have had a good education in my youth…"

* * *

_The rather squat, tubby boy stumbled along the path, his progress hindered by the strange half-hopping, half-shuffling steps he took. He looked to be somewhat frantic; he was due at his teacher's house very soon, but he was less than half-way there, without time to turn back home, and with no privy close by, when he was absolutely _busting_…_

_Then he spied it – a large tree, its thick branches leaving the ground around it dry even after last night's heavy rainfall; he could approach it without muddying the hem of his new hakama, and its wide trunk would shield him from the road. __He waddled swiftly over behind it, gave a quick glance around to make sure no one would see him, then untied his belt. There was a long-drawn-out trickling sound, and he heaved a sigh of satisfaction._

_Once he was finished, he hitched his hakama round his waist again and looked carefully all around, hoping no one had seen and feeling somewhat guilty. But surely, it was alright to relieve himself on a mere tree; there were no shrine statues or paper charms to signify it as being sacred, and besides, if no one knew…_

_With a more dignified gait, he casually resumed his walk to his teacher's house across the valley. He was fortunate that his parents were well-off and could afford to pay for his tuition; this way, he was spared having to do the menial labour the peasants all did and to which his body wasn't suited. Besides, he was far too intelligents to end up living his life as a mere farmer…_

* * *

"…b-but no, I can't think of a single thing I've ever done to that tree, or any tree."

Tatsuya didn't describe his remembrances to the others around the table; he certainly wasn't going to tell them about _that_…

Nevertheless, there was a hint of insincerity in his tone. The medicine seller looked at him in silence, his usual half-smile on his lips. Tatsuya gulped nervously; he had the frightening revelation that the medicine seller's keen gaze could see right through him and somehow glean a thorough knowledge of all that he had just thought, as though those red-rimmed eyes could see right inside his head…

_Surely that's impossible_, Tatsuya tried to reassure himself, but he couldn't suppress the uneasy feeling he had, and he was very much relieved when a few moments later Kayo spoke, and the medicine seller turned his gaze to her instead.

"So, where does that leave us? No one else turned out to be the Makoto, and surely it can't be me, since I've been away from the village for all these years and haven't had a chance to do anything to the tree…?"

"Hey, wait though – the _jubokko_ only appeared after you came back," Daisuke pointed out. "It could be said, then, that it's _most likely_ to be you, seeing as I have walked past that tree every day for the past twenty years at least, my father and Tatsuya-san for much longer, and none of us has ever been attacked. This has only happened now that _you two_ are here." He pointed at Kayo and the medicine seller.

"T-that's right!" Tatsuya concurred, banging the table enthusiastically with his chopsticks and glad that no one had pressed him about his memories of the tree.

"That is true," Daitaro admitted, somewhat reluctantly.

"B-but," Kayo uttered, quite taken aback, "the medicine seller certainly didn't do it; I've seen him defeat heaps of _ayakashi_, so there's no way he'd be responsible for creating this _jubokko_, and he only just arrived here, so he has had no chance to do anything to cause it. In fact, he warned you all about cutting down the tree in the first place. And really, it can't have been me; I never did anything to harm it. In fact, I felt sorry for the tree. You lot were so eager to kill it, as though tearing it down meant nothing, when really it was a living thing, and you guys really shouldn't have…"

She trailed off uneasily as she realized the others were regarding her with suspicious glances. Even Daitaro was looking intently at her; Daisuke and Tatsuya both stared at her with what was almost outright hostility.

"You have quite an empathy with the tree then, it seems. You have been away from here for some time, you say, but do you have any memories of that tree from before you left?"

Kayo turned to look at the medicine seller, and was thankful to see that he wore his usual serene expression, and he didn't sound accusatory at all; _he at least remembers his manners_, she thought to herself.

"Not really," she replied. "I haven't actually lived here very much; I was only six years old when my grandmother gave me to a procurer so I would at least have a home somewhere after she died – my mother drowned when there was a flood and the levies broke, and my father died from illness before I was born. Ever since then, I've been living and working in the cities, so even though I was born out here, I've spent most of my life living away from here. Although-" She reconsidered, scrunching up her smooth forehead in an effort to recall, "I vaguely remember, when I was very young…"

* * *

_A little girl wandered in the shadow of the big tree, exploring the ground at its foot. She was lucky to be four years old; there were streaks of dirt on her cheeks and on the cloth of her bright-yellow kimono, and she had maple leaves in her hair. As she hopped among the tree roots, her tiny hands grasping the smooth bark in order to keep her balance, she sang a song she knew, for no particular reason other than to amuse herself with the sound of her own voice:_

_"When the fox yip-yips on the top of the hill,  
The gods will send the rains to fall  
When the rice seeds dry on the window sill,  
The gods of death will come to call  
Mr. Fox, raise your voice up loud,  
Tell the crops to grow up green and tall  
When you see in the sky the dark rain cloud,  
You know there will be rice for all."_

_Having finished her song, she paused, stooping low, to examine the hole in the tree's trunk. It looked rather large; she wondered if she could fit inside-_

_"Kayo-chan!" An elderly old lady was sitting in the straw shelter, spinning flax between her bony fingers. "Come over here, Kayo-chan, and wait for your mama with me! The workers are coming from the fields!"_

_Kayo straightened and, with a skip and a jump, went over to stand with her grandmother in front of the shelter. After a while, her shrill, girlish voice exclaimed: "Mama! I see mama coming!"_

_A woman separated from the steady stream of folk heading back towards the village, coming towards them. Kayo went to her eagerly. "You seemed to be gone for a long time today, Mama! Look, I made a crown out of maples for my hair, just like a real lady- oh, they've all fallen out. But they looked nice, I think; I'll make a new one tomorrow to show you-"_

_"Then you'll have to stand very still until I get back, Kayo-chan," the woman smiled, apparently enjoying the child's incessant chatter._

_"I don't think it's possible," the old lady chuckled. "Little Kayo-chan spends all day jumping around in the dust like a busy little beetle."_

_"Is that so? It shows, too; Kayo, you don't look much like a lady at the moment. Let me clean you up."_

_Kayo wore a serious expression on her little face as her mother dabbed at it with her kerchief. "I could be a lady. I will be one day. When I grow up, I won't work in the field; that way I can wear long sleeves without getting them dirty, and I'll have pretty ornaments to wear in my hair, real ones with pins and combs that won't fall out."_

_"You'll have to do some sort of work to have those things, Kayo-chan," her grandmother chuckled. She and Kayo's mother each took one of the girl's hands, and side by side they walked towards home. Kayo looked at the bright-red leaves on the branches of the big tree as they passed it._

_"Tomorrow," she told herself, "I'll come back and make a better headdress, with the reddest leaves. And I'll wear it very carefully, so Mama can see it after she finishes her work."_

_She never did make another one. The following day, the heavy rains came._

* * *

Everyone remained in respectful silence after this story. If Daisuke thought making hair ornaments out of maple leaves was foolish, he didn't say so; at least not in his father's presence.

Kayo looked at her hands on the table before her. They were small and slightly worn, certainly not the hands of a lady; yet the nails weren't clipped short and weren't caked with dark mud along the cuticles. Her hands weren't at all like her mother's had been. She had, in a way, gotten the life she had longed for as a child; however, she wasn't sure any more if that was such a good thing…

"That was also a nice story," the medicine seller said softly beside her, rousing her from her thoughts. "That song you used to sing as a child…"

"It's just a bit of local folk verse," Daitaro explained to him. "Children still sing it today, and some adults; mostly it's a planting song. It's not really surprising that people from elsewhere haven't heard of it, since it is based on a regional tradition. Pay no heed to it."

"So," said Daisuke impatiently, "what should we do now? We'll have to do something sooner or later. We can't just not use that road ever again."

Tatsuya slurped up some more of his noodles noisily, smacking his lips together contemplatively. "This could be quite a difficult situation. We've never had a _mononoke_ infestation before. I'll have to consult the other village elders, of course, and in due time-"

"That won't get us anywhere fast," Daisuke huffed, obviously sick of these so-called 'thinking men'. "I have a much quicker idea; why don't we just get everyone to walk down the road one by one? That way we'll find out for sure which one of us exactly is this _jubokko_'s Makoto."

"W-what? No way can we do that!" Kayo objected. "It's far too dangerous – that person would be attacked, maybe killed!"

"Well if you're so scared about it, maybe _you're_ the Makoto!"

"Fool! Didn't I just say I wasn't? Besides, I don't want _anyone_ else to get hurt –not even an idiot like _you_!"

"Though she puts it crudely, Kayo-kun is right," Daitaro agreed. "It is too dangerous."

"Well, at least I'm trying to do something about it. For a so-called exorcist, this guy isn't doing much exorcising. He's just giving away noodle ingredients and showing off his weird equipment. I bet he can't actually-"

"Of course he can! Did you forget the _bake neko_, and the _umi bozu_ too? With my own eyes, I saw him sla-"

"You're a besotted little girl. You don't count as a reliable source."

"W-why you-? You creep, you act tough, but you're just all talk! You'd never be able to-"

_Ching!_

Everyone froze at that unexpected noise. Kayo felt a quiver of fear within her. She had heard that noise before, on the other side of some screens; it was a noise that meant that something dangerous was approaching-

"Tatsuya-san," the medicine seller said. He had been silent all through Kayo and Daisuke's argument, but now his voice alone spoke in the tense atmosphere round the table. "Did you drop something?"

Somewhat bewildered, Tatsuya looked all around him. "N-no…. I think something just fell out of my sleeve. Yes, there's something down there. Must've blown into my sleeve while I was running. Looks like a leaf." Sure enough, there was a red leaf on the ground next to Tatsuya's seat.

This had a rather unprecedented effect. Everyone stared warily at Tatsuya in silence. Tatsuya frowned back at them. Everyone seemed to suspect, except for him. "Really," he grumbled, "must you people be so impressionable? I should expect as much from young people, but Daitaro-san, I'm surprised at you. You've all fallen for this man's tall tales. He's doing nothing but spinning stories to make himself appear knowledgeable. But someone like myself who is of _true learning_ isn't so easily fooled." He haughtily took up his chopsticks and went back to stuffing noodles in his mouth.

Kayo peered over the edge of the table. "The scales," she said quietly to the medicine seller. "They've tipped over…" Sure enough, the scales closest to Tatsuya had tilted, its bell resting on the ground right next to the leaf.

The medicine seller didn't respond. He was closely examining the leaf itself. His eyes narrowed. Barely perceptible, a few fibres that looked like roots protruded from the twig on the leaf; they seemed to grow into the floor. The medicine seller's swift gaze swept the floor, looking for more signs-

_Ching!_

Everyone jumped in their seats, except for the medicine seller. The scales closest to the leg of the table had tipped over. He continued to scan the floor, looking at the spot where the table leg stood. Suddenly, before his eyes, the surface of the table leg itself rippled slightly, almost as though it were stretching… or _growing-_

With a start, the medicine seller leapt to his feet, the demon-slaying sword in his hand. He pointed the end of its sheath squarely at Tatsuya.

"Tatsuya-san, stop!"

Tatsuya stared at him as though he was mad, his mouth full of noodles; then he slowly lowered his chopsticks. Or at least, he tried to. Puzzled, he tugged, but his arm wouldn't budge. Looking at his hand, he realized to his amazement that his chopsticks had somehow become longer; they bent towards the tabletop, seeming to have taken root in it, attached to it like a pair of skinny vines. He tried to open his mouth to cry out, but he couldn't. Instead he made a muffled gurgling noise. Amongst the noodles in his mouth, a pair of vines coiled between his lips.

Tatsuya staggered to his feet. He grabbed at the vines, trying to extricate them from his mouth, but they nimbly avoided his fingers, writhing like snakes. They seemed to be getting thicker, growing voraciously, weaving their way deeper into his throat. A tendril tipped with a tiny red leaf poked out of Tatsuya's left nostril – from the _inside_. Another branch curled right round his head and pulled tight, making his eyes bulge out of their sockets. His face didn't look so flabby now; his cheeks looked sallow and pinched, and veins stuck out on the backs of his madly-flailing hands.

The rest of them could only watch in horror as his struggles became gradually weaker; there was a wet-sounding _snap_, and his head jerked abruptly to one side. The vines pulsed spasmodically, like elongated throats gulping down liquid; then they unravelled and disappeared back into the tabletop. Tatsuya slumped over, lifeless. On the floor, the leaf crumpled, turning to a dust the colour of old blood.

* * *

_Edit: I just did a rare thing. More than 2 years after publishing this chapter, I went back and changed it, breaking one of the rules I set myself when I began writing fics. There was nothing wrong with the chapter as it was; this is why I decided it needed an update..._

_When I went back and watched the original Mononoke series again, it occurred to me that I didn't recreate the bit at the start of each new episode, where the medicine seller delivers a short monologue explaining the previous instalment in his trademark mysterious, abstract way. I wanted to incorporate this effect into later chapters of the story, but by then I was writing chapter 13; it would mean that my 'story arc' wasn't divided into 'episodes' of equal length. Hence, I decided to go back and add the opening sequence to this chapter. If you just imagine the sliding doors closing after the italic type, the credits then playing, and the doors reopening when Daisuke starts speaking, you'll get the effect I was aiming for. __(The chapters still aren't divided into 'episodes' of equal length, but ah well - close enough!)_

_It doesn't affect the story in any way, but I hope this new addition makes the story more enjoyable! ~ W.J._


	7. Chapter 6: Fight or Flight

**Chapter 6 – Fight or Flight**

No one said anything. No one could. They all stared, frozen in terror, at the corpse, which a few moments ago had been a loud, blustering, noodle-guzzling, living person.

_CHING!_

A ring of scales around them toppled over simultaneously.

"Quick!" the medicine seller told them tersely, his sword raised high. "Get back away from the table!"

They all scrambled madly to obey, just in time; almost as soon as he spoke, the table itself shook, then its entire surface suddenly exploded outwards, forming countless long, vine-like limbs, each tipped with a disturbingly human-looking hand made entirely of wood. The hands flailed in every direction, grasping, searching – _looking for more food_.

Daisuke tried to reach for his _nagimachi_, which was leaning against the wall, but when he lunged for it, he staggered – a wooden hand was clutching his sleeve, and struggle as he might, he couldn't break away. Daitaro tried to wrestle him free, but the vines merely clung to him as well. Kayo squealed as a hand gripped painfully at her hair. Somehow, the medicine seller darted across the room before the hands could latch onto him. He leapt towards the corner, then turned and flung some sort of powder – not salt this time, something grey instead. It settled all over the table; the wooden hands instantly loosed their grip and shrank away. Suddenly freed, Daitaro and Daisuke were finely able to take up their weapons. Rubbing her pain-filled scalp, Kayo looked at the medicine seller.

"W-wasn't that hot?" she asked him. His outstretched hand looked as pale and flawless as ever, despite the fact he had just plunged it into the brazier and thrown still-burning ash everywhere.

"W-was there something wrong out there?" Gohei asked uncertainly, rounding the partition. His eyes scanned the room, and he dropped the kettle he carried with a clang. His gaze leapt from Tatsuya's inert form, to Daitaro and Daisuke standing clutching their long _nagimachi_, to the medicine seller holding his sword before him.

"What did-? Who did-? How did-? M-my table – what did you _do_ to my table?!" The wooden table hadn't returned to normal; hands still protruded all over its surface, though they now seemed to be carved out of dead wood, no longer able to move.

"Gohei-san, I need to borrow some salt from you. Please hurry and get it." When Gohei remained unmoving, overcome by shock, the medicine seller instead turned to Kisa, who was peering wonderingly over the cook's shoulder. "Kisa-san, get me all the salt you can find! Quickly!"

Kisa just stared at him for a moment; then, perhaps seeing the new ferocity in his expression, she murmured "Y-yes, sir!" and hurried away.

"Stay back in the kitchen, Gohei-san," Daitaro told the cook, not looking up from the floor. "There's something in here. Will these, erm, scales warn us if it comes again?"

"Yes." The medicine seller was watching the floor too.

"W-what? These things actually do something?!" Daisuke was poised with his _nagamachi_ held over his head, ready to strike.

With an encroaching sense of dread, Kayo held her breath, waiting. It didn't seem to be a matter of _if_… it was more a matter of _when_…

CHING!CHING!CHING!CHING!CHING!CHING!CHING!

"W-wh-?"

Without warning, all the scales started to rock back and forth at once, making a tremendous din; the next moment, they were all knocked over as countless wooden roots lanced upwards out of the floorboards.

"YAAAAHHHHH!!!"

Daisuke madly started slashing at the vines that sprung up all around him. Daitaro did the same, more quietly. The medicine seller cut through the vines that had sprung up nearest him, several paper charms in his hand. Three new roots hurtled upwards out of the floor; they were each met by paper charms. Though each root stabbed straight through the charm in mid-air, both charm and root disintegrated and dripped back into the floor, disappearing into the wood grain.

They had been slashing for only a few minutes, but Daisuke was already breathing hard. "They just – keep – eh – coming!" he grunted, slicing in a wide circle around him. It seemed that as soon as he cut down one root, another sprung up to replace it.

Kayo snatched up a bowl of noodles and tipped it over the floor; it cut a swathe in the roots around her as they retreated, fleeing the salty broth. Snatching up more bowls, she made a path to the kitchen door, where Kisa stood agog, the bowl of salt in her hands forgotten as soon as she saw the writhing mass of roots the floor had become.

"Quick, give that here!"

At the sound of Kayo's voice, Kisa seemed to snap out of a trance; her eyes focused on the other woman, and she swiftly obeyed. Kayo started flinging salt about her. Roots all around her feet withered and died. She gradually made her progress across the room, scattering as she went.

Hurled by the medicine seller, a new row of charms hit the floor; however, instead of curbing the vines, the charms themselves gradually discoloured, turning the sickly yellow of old paper. Then they darken to a brown, splitting down their centre and curling, turning into new vines that grew _out of the charm itself_.

"I thought this would happen," the medicine seller muttered to himself. "It reclaimed the paper as wood." He instead blocked a swiping vine with his sword's sheath, dodging skillfully.

Kayo had gone through half the salt, and was worrying that she didn't have enough; there were still a lot of vines. Suddenly, a jangling noise came from her feet. Startled, she stopped stock still and looked down. A lone scale was at her feet; it skittered on its point, then tipped over, indicating towards the wall-

"Aiiieee!!!"

There was a rustling sound at her back, then she felt something seize her wrist. She tried to turn, but she couldn't; more vines fastened on her arms and round her waist, their grip hard and tight. The vine on her wrist struck out, knocking the bowl from her hand and dumping its contents on the floor. She felt herself lifted, then pulled swiftly backwards.

"Kayo-kun!"

Kayo was actually _glad_ to hear Daisuke's voice close by; she more felt than heard a keen _swish_ pass just behind her, then the vines abruptly dropped her. She fell with a thump to the floor, looking up in time to see the severed vines disappearing back into the wooden shutter that had been behind her.

"Are you alright?" Daisuke stood over her, clutching his _nagimachi_ and looking about warily for more vines. He darted her a glance that, quick though it was, actually seemed to hold some genuine _concern for her_…

"Y-yes, thank you…"

She realized to her embarrassment that she sounded like the bashful Kisa, but she was moved despite herself. _Daisuke_, that jerk, had actually _saved_ her…

_Thwip!_

She started as something moved behind her, but it wasn't a vine; her hair, somehow freed from its ties, fluffed around her shoulders, the combs and pins she had been wearing falling to the floor. She frantically felt the back of her head; usually when she combed it out, it fell nearly to her waist, but now her severed locks ended just above her shoulders.

"My hair! You bastard, you _cut my hair_!"

Daisuke grimaced, seeming to revert to his usual boorish self. "Get over it, you cry-baby. It beats being strangled by a vine. In any case, y-"

_Swish! Thump!_

Daisuke started back as a metal blade came down right in front of him without warning; his weapon was wrenched out of his hands by the impact. Daitaro's _nagimachi_ had severed the handle off Daisuke's; it now writhed on the floor, a living length of wriggling wood. Daitaro's blade came down again; split in half, it lay still.

"Don't get distracted, you two," Daitaro warned them sternly. "Daisuke, the handle of your own weapon almost took out the back of your head when you weren't looking. It seems the _jubokko_ can possess any type of wood and use it as an extension of itself. It could do the same to my weapon, too."

"Can't this exorcist friend of yours kill it?" Daisuke asked, holding the _nagimachi_ blade before him, though now it was deprived of its handle, it didn't have much force behind it. "If you reckon he's done it before, why doesn't he just-"

"I told you," Kayo replied, trying to salvage some of the salt from the floor, "he has to know the Makoto and Kotowari before he can draw the sword!"

"Fat lot of good that does us!"

"I have to agree," Daitaro murmured, swinging at a vine that snaked its way towards them.

Kayo bit off her protests; she had to admit, they were right. The _jubokko_'s attack was almost overwhelming; at this rate, it could-

"KYAAAAA!!!"

"Oh no, it's got Kisa-chan!"

The vines had fastened around Kisa's waist and lifted her up near the ceiling; she screwed up her eyes, whimpering, as it waved her about like a blade of grass, apparently not sure what to do with her now it had her. Gohei vainly hovered beneath her, but a vine shot past him, knocking him off his feet.

"Damn," the medicine seller uttered through clenched teeth. "I was hoping to save it for later, but now we'll have to try _that_." He turned to Kayo and the two men by the wall. "All of you, duck down and stay low!"

They hastily crouched down, fighting their instincts to stay as far away from the root-sprouting floor as possible. The medicine seller extended a hand, and just like before, the paper strap from his pack flew into it. Working his arm, he twirled it like a long whip; it swept the room, severing every root in its path. Kayo, Daisuke and Daitaro heard it whistle over their heads, and they hastily covered their faces as splinters rained down on them. Kisa shrieked as the roots holding her buckled, and she fell from six _sun _up in the air. Sturdy arms caught her, breaking her fall. Timidly, she opened her eyes, and looked up into the red-adorned face of the medicine seller.

"Are you alright?" he asked her in a tone of voice that sounded far too calm after what had just happened.

"Y-yes," she managed to stammer somewhat tearfully, her eyes not leaving his face.

Kayo warily raised her head. "Has it… stopped?"

"It would appear so, but I can't say for how long." The medicine seller let go of the paper strap; it returned to its normal shape and length. "It took a severe blow, damaging so many of its roots in one go, but with the extra blood it's now consumed-" the medicine seller spared Tatsuya's corpse a glance "-it's becoming stronger, so it is regenerating more quickly, and its reach is growing. It'll search for us again soon, so we can't waste any more time; we need to move to somewhere that's easier to defend."

"Y-yes, I want you all out of my store this _instant_!"

Kayo and the others looked at the source of this outburst with some surprise; they had forgotten about Gohei in all the chaos that had just passed. "Just _look_ at the damage you've done!" he continued, wringing his hands fretfully and looking about him with an aghast expression on his oily features. "I'm just a humble store-owner, I can't afford to replace all this! My furniture, my floor, it's all ruined! What a calamity!" The stall was indeed a mess. Hands were still seemingly carved into the tabletop; roots as tall as Daisuke's waist were still poking out of the floor in places; blood, salt, ash and splinters were scattered everywhere; not to mention the lifeless body that was slumped over a stool.

"I want you all out of here before you destroy more of my property!" Gohei declared, suddenly displaying an obstinate nature that his previous subservience had hidden.

"B-but, where can we go?" Kayo asked nervously. "If we go outside, it'll find us for sure…"

"The inn up the road?" Daisuke didn't care that he was agreeing with Kayo's earlier suggestion, or the medicine seller's for that matter; regardless of whose idea it was, he wanted to get away from here, fast.

"That place is made of wood, though, isn't it?" the medicine seller inquired. "If we go somewhere that's mostly made of wood, this will just happen again."

"But all the buildings around here are made of wood! There's nowhere-"

"Wait. I have an idea." Everyone turned to Daitaro expectantly. "There is a temple over behind the fields. It is old and untended now, but it has high stone walls around it, which might make it easier …"

"Let's go there, then." So saying, the medicine seller turned abruptly for the door.

"Wait! What about your pack?" asked Kayo; he had gone to leave without it.

"It's made of wood. I can't risk taking it; the _jubokko_ might possess it and use it against us. I'll just take a few first-aid items in case we need them. I suggest, Kayo-san, you get all the salt you can carry; Daitaro-san and Daisuke-san, leave your wooden-handled _nagimachi_ and take metal knives from the kitchen instead. If it's alright with Gohei-san?"

"Take whatever you want, I don't care, as long as you go. Such troublesome customers – why, I never in all my years-!"

"Um, if you'll follow me, we have more salt in the back storeroom, and there is a selection of knives…"

Kayo and the two men, taking up the medicine seller's suggestions, followed Kisa into the kitchen. A short time later, they were ready to leave. Daitaro and Daisuke each carried a stout metal cleaver in their belts, wrapped in straw sheeting in place of sheaths, and they also each had a sack of wood-ash upon their person. Kayo had refilled her drawstring bag, plus had a small bag with additional salt tied to each wrist, concealed inside her sleeves. The medicine seller carried only his demon-slaying sword and a few packages from his medicine drawers, which he tucked into his sleeves.

"If it is alright with Gohei-san, we will leave our belongings here."

"Do whatever you want, so long as you leave – and hurry up about it!"

"Can you take care of my hair ornaments for me, Kisa-chan?" Kayo asked. "I'll want them for when my hair grows long again." She darted Daisuke a murderous look.

"S-sure," Kisa replied, carefully gathering up the wooden combs and pins in her apron. "Take care, Miss." She tried to smile bravely, but try as she might, it didn't look very reassuring. Kayo tried to smile back. For all that she was shy, Kisa seemed like a nice girl – almost too nice, in fact.

"Gohei-san, a small payment, for keeping our things for us." The medicine seller handed Gohei a small package; he snatched it from him wrathfully, still grieving the state of his dining room. The medicine seller didn't seem to notice; he simply bowed to Gohei and Kisa, and followed the others out through the fabric flaps, out into a dark, chill night that seemed even darker for the jagged black shadows of the surrounding trees. Gradually, the footsteps of the three men and one woman faded into the night. Kisa hovered nervously at the door of the noodle stall, looking after them until they disappeared into the gloom. In particular, her eyes watched the swaying tips of the medicine seller's bandanna disappear into the night, like the flapping wings of some night-bird.

"I hope they'll be alright," she murmured softly to herself.

"Eeeeehhhhh?!"

Kisa turned at the noise. "I-Is something wrong, Gohei-san?"

"Other than the fact they left my stall almost in ruins, my table and floors deformed, and a dead body sitting against the wall?! Just look at _this_!" He waved the paper packet the medicine seller had given him in his clenched fist; try though she might, it was moving too quickly for Kisa to get a proper look.

"_Shiso_ leaves!" he declared in fury, tossing the packet on the floor. "_Shiso_ leaves! They make all this mess, and he pays me in _shiso_ leaves! Any fool can walk into the forest and pick basket-loads of _shiso_ leaves! That damn crook! I have half a mind to clear out his medicine cabinet as payment for the damage he did! It would serve him right! I mean, _shiso_ leaves, damn _shiso leaves_!"

* * *

The rice paddies were silent except for a low swishing sound, as a light breeze ruffled the nodding heads of green rice shoots. In the darkness, one might be mistaken in thinking that one stood on the banks of a rushing stream. This assumption wouldn't exactly be false; thin banks of packed dirt contained large marshy plots filled with water. The sprightly green stalks rose triumphantly up out of the thick black mud, as though in defiance of such an unattractive birthplace. The sky above looked just as murky, a few weak moonbeams breaking through the clouds overhead, barely illuminating their way. At last, in the near distance, ancient-looking grey walls that seemed to be made from the mud itself appeared before them; just beyond them, they could see the dark silhouette of the temple roof rising before them, asymmetrical in shape and sloping sharply away on one side where some of the tiles had been worn away by bad weather.

"Finally there! Geez, what a night – I wish morning would hurry up and come!"

"If you hadn't gotten lost in the fields, Daisuke-kun, we would've gotten here a lot faster! The whole idea was not to spend too much time out in the open!"

"Hmph, gimme a break. I'd like to see you find your way out there, Miss Priss – until a few days ago, you barely remembered what a field looked like!"

"Did not! Only a bean-brain like you could forget something so simple!"

"Foul-mouthed wench!"

"That's enough, both of you! Let's just get inside. It should be a bit warmer inside the temple walls, and Daisuke needs to dry off." Daisuke's sandals squelched with each step; he had insisted on leading the way and had unwittingly walked straight off an embankment, ending up knee-deep in a water-logged rice paddy. Luckily, the medicine seller had somehow seen what lay ahead in the dark, and had stopped Kayo and Daitaro from following him into it.

"It's a relief to have made it here," Kayo said with a small grateful sigh. Daisuke and Daitaro had walked most of the way with their hands hovering over the knives in their belts, but they had made it across the fields unmolested. Kayo rather hoped that the paddies were too vast and muddy for the _jubboko_'s roots to travel through, but she knew that wasn't a certainty.

"Are you sure you were alright, walking all that way like this?" she asked the medicine seller. To the amazement of everyone, whilst they had re-donned their straw sandals at the door, he had left his _geta_ outside the noodle stall, citing the fact that they too were made of wood, and hence were best left behind so the _jubokko _couldn't possess them. This seemed to Kayo to be too extreme; however, it hadn't seemed to worry the medicine seller at all. He had simply removed his _tabi_ as well – "to stop them from getting muddied," he had said, although how that mattered when the _tabi_ were black, and his bare feet where treading in the dirt anyway, she wasn't sure.

"It was fine," he replied to her query as they walked under the _torii_ outside the temple, Kayo wincing slightly as they passed through the _wooden_ portal. "The ground was soft the whole way, and my feet didn't mind it the slightest."

"It's a wonder; even your _feet_ are pale and slender," Kayo said with some envy. "You could've been a noblewoman in a past life, with features like that."

"If Kayo-san can think something like that at a time like this, you can't be too scared."

Kayo grinned ruefully. "I wish that were true."

Daitaro and Daisuke had wandered ahead of them. Kayo and the medicine seller went after them, through the dark opening of the temple's doors.

* * *

_Author's Note: On it goes! Thanks for reading, hope you're enjoying it! If you are, please send in your reviews; I'm enjoying writing this story, but I have others that need up-dating, so if this one isn't getting enough traffic, I'll switching to writing another one. I am liking this story though. __Things are about to get very interesting. Stay tuned! _

_Also, if you do send a review, please sign it so I can write back to you! _

_Thanks! ~ W.J._


	8. Chapter 7: The Temple

**_Author's note: _**_WARNING!!! This chapter contains adult themes and content which may not be suitable for young or sensitive readers._

* * *

**Chapter 7 – The Temple**

"Wha-! W-who is that?"

"It's me, you idiot!"

"Daisuke-kun! What are you standing in the middle of the way for? I could barely see you in the dark."

"Where am I _supposed_ to stand? After what happened back there, I'm keeping well away from the walls."

"It shouldn't happen again," Daitaro assured them, appearing out of the darkness with more decorum. "I don't think; most of this building is made of stone, with only the beams made of wood, and there are stone walls all around the entire compound. The _ayakashi_ will have trouble getting through that, won't it?"

The medicine seller didn't reply to his question. He was calmly examining the vast space inside the temple, though much of it was still shrouded in shadow. The worn, dust-bedecked walls disappeared over their heads, as though the ceiling itself stretched infinitely above them like a starless sky, impenetrably black.

Kayo shivered; as well as being dark, it was cold inside the temple, not to mention spooky. "I wish we had more light than this," she muttered quietly to no one in particular. At Kisa's suggestion, they had taken with them oiled lengths of string, which they had lit back at the noodle stall. Paper lanterns or wooden torches were too dangerous to use with the _jubokko_ gathering strength, but string was a safer option. However, the string gave off no warmth, and very little light either.

"We can fix that." Without warning, flames flared up; their faces were illuminated in a steady light, looking eerily pale in the sudden glare. They all realized after a moment that the flame was clutched in the medicine seller's right hand.

"H-how did you-?"

Kayo thought at first that he held it in his bare fingers; then she saw that he held a cloth rag, which he had set alight. The flame still looked rather weird – it barely flickered in the draughty hall but remained almost perfectly still in a single flame, and was a very vivid, bright red; a red so dazzling that it hurt the eyes to look at it for too long.

"These are oiled rags that I use to wrap medicines that are easily damaged by moisture. They should burn quite well, for a few hours at least. There is enough for us to have one each." Everyone took an oiled rag and held it to the medicine seller's flame; soon they all held their own identical torch.

"Were you wearing that before?" Kayo asked as she lit her piece of oilskin. She was looking at the ring on the medicine seller's outstretched hand, glimmering in the firelight. She didn't remember having seen it before; it was made of some strange, slightly reddish material edged with gold lacquer, and was studded with tiny red gems. She realized that it seemed to match the sheath of his sword.

"No, I had it in my medicine drawers before, but I thought I'd wear it. Gohei-san seemed rather upset about his damages, and would likely have stolen it if I had left it behind."

"Who cares?" Daisuke interrupted huffily. "You two can chat about jewelry later. The important thing now is, what are we gonna do? Are we just going to sit around in this musty old hole until morning? And, even then, will it be safe to go home eventually? I don't want to spend the rest of my life running away from trees."

"Well, for a start, I need to go and put some charms up along the perimeter. Daitaro-san, I believe I saw some large stone lanterns along the outside wall?"

"Er, I couldn't see in the dark, so most of them could have long since crumbled away to nothing from exposure to the elements, but yes, stone lanterns were built into alcoves in the walls, so that lost travelers could find their way here."

"Good. You and Daisuke-san should go and light them. The _jubokko_ won't like fire, so those lanterns will deter it from trying to breach the walls.

"Y-you're all going to go back outside and leave me in here _alone_?" Kayo asked tremulously. Lanterns or no lanterns, if she were a traveller, she would want to stay well away from this place; it seemed like just the sort of place an _ayakashi _would want to call home. She would almost rather go back outside with them than stay inside on her own. Almost.

"Kayo-san, I need you to go to the central hearth, which will probably be in the main vestibule, and light a large fire there. That will be a safe place for us to regroup and plan our next move."

"I-I have to go i-in there… alone?" Kayo peered fearfully into the darkness. The wind whistled softly through a hole somewhere high in the ceiling, sounding rather like the sinister, whispery sort of noise tree branches might make as they snuck down the walls…

"Kayo-kun doesn't have a weapon," Daisuke pointed out, "so I can stay with her. Father will be able to get on fine without me."

"I'm fine with that arrangement." If Daitaro was apprehensive, he didn't show it.

"So be it. Come on then, Daitaro-san."

The medicine seller turned back towards the door without hesitation; obviously, being in this line of work, he was past all fear of _ayakashi_, and had no qualms about going back out into the night. Daitaro paused for a moment – long enough to pat his son companionably on the shoulder and give Kayo a brief nod – then swiftly joined him. The strange light from their makeshift torches made the shadows dance in their wake. The medicine seller went last; the shadow his long sash made swayed behind him, like a long tail dragging on the ground.

Kayo watched him go, feeling a sort of dejection. That time back in the Saito household, when Sasaoka-sama and Sato-san had made her go and get _saké_ from the kitchen, the medicine seller had offered to go with her… that time, even though she had known _something_ out there had killed Mao-sama and Yahei-san, she had felt reassured by his presence, almost _safe_… she had rather hoped that he would do the same again this time…

"Well, I'm baby-sitting you, you little wimp, so don't start crying now."

The snide remark from beside her reminded Kayo just who _had_ stayed behind to protect her. Whatever good intentions were behind Daisuke's offer, she still would've preferred even Daitaro-san's company over his. She wasn't sure if Daitaro liked her or not, but at least he wasn't an insensitive moron like his son. She sighed; she supposed she would just have to make do, and Daisuke-kun was better than no one at all.

"Just as well you're staying behind," she replied, affecting a haughty tone. "You still need to dry off after your dip in the rice paddy."

He scowled, looking embarrassed and walking ahead into the darkness to hide it. "Geez, do you have to keep harping on about that? If you ever do manage to get married, you'll drive your husband crazy…"

Summoning up a suitably outraged remark, she followed him, trying not to trip on the debris littering the temple floor.

* * *

The temple compound was an unsettling place to wander after dark, even under normal circumstances. The wind found numerous nooks and crannies in the building, holes that had formed in the roof and gaps between stones in the walls, into which it moaned petulantly, like the voice of a lonesome ghost. Veils of cobwebs shrouded everything, turning the complex into one vaguely-shaped mound of desolate grey.

Daitaro jogged alongside the compound's outer wall, trying to get his task done as quickly and efficiently as possible. He and the medicine seller had parted ways soon after leaving the main temple building. It had been agreed between them that it would be quicker for them to split up, so they could sooner return to the main group by the hearth once their respective tasks were done. The medicine seller had followed the wall in the opposite direction; they were to meet at the halfway mark, making sure nothing had gone amiss with the other. Still, whilst they performed their separate tasks, they were for most of that time at opposite ends of the compound from each other. If something were to happen to one of them, the other might not realize, _not until it was too late_…

This was a thought that nudged persistently at the edge of Daitaro's mind. However, he was intent on lighting each of the temple's lanterns, and he simply refused to acknowledge this lurking fear, focusing instead on his task.

After a short while, he came to another small niche in the stone wall. He stooped, found a fistful of dried leaves on the ground, thrust them into the pit of the stone lantern the alcove contained, and held his torch to it until it caught. Once it burnt up brightly, tinging the gloomy grey stone with its warm orange glow, he moved on, heading swiftly towards the next lantern. His only companion was the sound of his sandals on the stone paving underfoot, emitting a muffled _thud_ with each step he took-

He suddenly stopped. Curious, he peered upwards, over the top of the impassive grey wall beside him. The black outline of the nearby trees rustled softly, but otherwise all was still. He listened a moment longer, but not so much as a cricket could be heard. After deliberating for a moment more, Daitaro shrugged and continued on, turning his thoughts back to the task at hand.

Still, it was strange. For a moment… just for one small _moment_, he had been almost _sure_ he had heard a voice… a voice that had sounded like it had been _singing_…

* * *

It took them some time to build a decent fire in the hearth. The air inside the temple was musty, dampening out any small spark that actually caught in the fire pit; at last - more through Kayo's patience than Daisuke's persistence - they managed to keep an ember glowing long enough for their kindling of twigs to catch, and as it grew, they fed the fire with odd debris they found scattered about the place. Daisuke seated himself on the floor close to the hearth, stretching his sopping-wet feet out before him so they could dry near the flames. Kayo crouched alongside him, resisting the urge to look over her shoulder at odd intervals, constantly trying to reassure herself that nothing lurked in the darkness behind her.

"What a lousy place," Daisuke muttered after a while. "When we were kids we used to dare each other to come in here, but none of us ever did. I always wondered what it was like in here. It's hardly as interesting as we believed it would be."

"Hmm yeah," Kayo murmured distractedly. "I remember the older folk used to tell us stories warning us not to come to this place – they said it was the home of _yokai,_ demons that ate children's souls…" She shivered slightly at the mere mention, hugging herself to sooth away the fears as much as to alleviate the cold.

"I guess they didn't know squat; the demon was in the tree that we walked past every day instead."

"Tch. I guess so." Kayo allowed herself a slight smile at the irony of this.

"Well, I bet _you_ never imagined you'd be inside this place," Daisuke stated, pulling a loose fleck of straw from his left sandal. "Heck, I bet you never even thought you'd return to this village at all once you'd left."

"I-I guess not," Kayo admitted, caught unawares by this line of conversation. "I never really thought about it, really. I was just trying to make my living wherever I could. I _did_ think of the village from time to time, though. I remembered how things used to be, and I sometimes wondered what was happening here while I was away."

Daisuke gave a wry chuckle, absently placing the piece of straw between his teeth. "I bet this dull old backwater hasn't changed much since you left. Nothing ever happens round here."

"That's not true," Kayo countered. "Something's definitely happening _right now_."

Daisuke shrugged. He certainly couldn't dispute _that_.

"I suppose things here are sorta the same as when I left," she continued. "I mean, it's the same place, some of the same people, and all that; but it seems different, too. Most of what I thought I knew was just childish memories. Actually seeing it again made it all seem very different. Of course, even quiet places like this change a lot over the space of a decade. People change, too…"

She didn't tell him, as she lapsed into silence, just who it was she was referring to. She snuck Daisuke a sidelong glance, as she did so remembering someone she had known many years ago…

* * *

_A young Kayo squealed at the sight of a slimy toad in the fields. Daisuke chased it away with a stick, threatening to split it in half._

_***_

_Daisuke was seated on a rock beside her whilst they ate steamed buns; unbeknownst to him, there was a smear of red bean paste upon his cheek._

_***_

_Daisuke wound a string around a top more tightly than her weak, girlish hands could've managed. He then set it down for her so she could tug the string herself, sending it spinning wildly._

_***_

_Doing his best to look sulky, Daisuke handed her a sprig of fresh white plum blossoms that she had been adamant of wearing in her hair, and which had been too high for her to reach herself. _

* * *

"So, now that you _are_ back, what will you do?"

Daisuke's words brought her abruptly back to the present. Compared to these carefree childish remembrances, the future seemed to stretch long and bleak before her, though both timeframes were set against the backdrop of this same place.

"I don't know," she admitted, wondering why she was telling Daisuke all this – but then, was she telling it to the _adult _Daisuke, or to Daisuke the _child_, the sometimes-playmate she still remembered almost fondly from her childhood? She glanced his way again. He was regarding her with the same sullen gaze he had always worn, even way back then. "I have a place to work here; I guess I'll just carry on as best I can, like I always have. My life isn't any different now just because I'm back at the village. I still have my two hands; I can still use them to take care of myself." _When they will work for me, anyway,_ she added to herself, giving the bell on her 'clumsiness charm' a dejected glance.

"Aren't you sick of having to work all the time?"

"Well, of course, but-"

"Wouldn't it be easier to have someone look after you?"

She turned to look at him so abruptly, her new short hairstyle flicked out around her head. "W-what do you mean…?" she asked cautiously, wondering just what he intended…

"Well, most girls start settlin' down with a husband and kids by the time they're your age, don't they?" He both looked and sounded completely nonchalant.

"I suppose so; most _village_ girls do, anyway."

"Well you're a village girl again _now_, aren't you? I mean, you were a city girl for a while; but you came back."

"That doesn't mean I'll stay here for good…" she began uncertainly, wondering as she said it how likely that was. As though he thought the same thing, Daisuke grunted derisively.

"Sure, you may think that right now. But quite a few folks leave the country out here to go work in a town – we see 'em streaming along the road every year, just after the start of planting season. You weren't the only one to leave _here_, either. You were, however, the only one to come _back_."

"W-what are you implying?" Kayo didn't like the scornful tone with which he had uttered this last sentence. It might be true, she supposed, but he didn't have to put it like _that_-

"All I'm sayin' is that maybe you should think realistically about your future. How certain are you that you can support yourself indefinitely? Just look how that worked out for you before-"

"And I suppose you think you could do better?" she retorted defensively. His irksome personality was showing itself again.

"I _have_ done better. I have a constant stream of work, and am in a perfectly fine position to support a family."

"Well, why don't you then, since you're such an apparent hit with the ladies? I suppose if you went and asked Kisa-chan to marry you, she'd be too scared to refuse."

"Eh, I'm not really serious about girls like Kisa-chan."

"Well, thank goodness for that; given the look on her face earlier, it seems Mr. Medicine Seller charmed her right out of your grasp."

Though she meant to sound dismissive, a hint of jealousy crept into her voice despite herself; he fell upon it immediately. "Heh, and why haven't _you_ married your precious 'peddlar of potions' yet? You'd make a fine couple – the cheap-trick fake exorcist and his pretentious big-city consort! I be-"

"Don't you dare make insinuations like _that_!" Kayo didn't care that she was shrieking; she had completely forgotten her fear of the dark. Her face was hot and she felt like a squabbling child; yet the things they were arguing about were very adult, and too close to the truth for her to let them slide.

"There you go with the hoity-toity attitude again," Daisuke sneered with a roll of his eyes, seeming to be savouring being on top of the argument.

"Just because I don't want to be some black-footed farmer's wife with a bird's nest in her hair and straw between her teeth-"

"And just what else do you think you're _good for_?! You're the one who had a shot at the big smoke, and what did you do? You botched it and came crawling back with your tail between your legs, an utter _failure_!"

In the heat of the moment he shouted the words, and afterwards, as the echoes died away, it seemed almost too quiet. The kindling crackled noisily in the grate, as though the space between them could literally be heard smouldering. Kayo could feel angry tears prickling in the corners of her eyes, but to spite them – and _him_ – she gave Daisuke her haughtiest glare, even as her lower lip trembled.

Daisuke was quiet for a time, seemingly ashamed of what he had said but hiding it by looking as scornfully as he could manage. At last he rubbed the back of his neck and moved a little closer to her, in a sort of consoling gesture; Kayo flinched, but forced herself to stay near him, refusing to back down.

"Look," he began again, "all I'm saying is that maybe you should be a bit more practical. You went away for a while, and it didn't work out. That's alright, no skin off your nose. It just means that now you're back, you need to accept the fact, and settle for the best thing going around here."

"And what might that be?" she asked icily, becoming increasingly incredulous. "Surely you don't mean _yourself_?!"

He sighed, as though he were trying to explain something incredibly simple to her. "You had your chance at being independent. You should be thinking about securing your position. We have that security here. _I_ have that security, if you can just get down off your high horse and realize it. What I'm trying to say-"

"Oh, I _get_ perfectly well what you're trying to say!" she angrily jabbed a finger into his chest to punctuate her sentence. "You're trying to say I must be dense not to go all slack-jaw over a local heart-throb like you, just like every other delusional little girl in this backwards wreck of a little village! You actually have the hide to think tha-"

He grabbed her hand to stop her onslaught; though he didn't use much of his strength, she was afraid he'd crush it in his grasp, and longed to pull away. "You think _they're_ delusional, when you're lusting after your weirdo, make-up-wearing, con-artist lover?! Oh, come on, it's damn obvious!" he retorted, misinterpreting Kayo's look of shock as indignation. "You city girls all turn out the same – enamoured with samurai and artists, both of whom amount to much the same thing – a bunch of crooks. All romanticism, no substance."

"Any substance you have is lodged between your ears." Kayo's voice was low and seething with outrage.

"Perhaps," he leered back at her – _had he moved closer to her at some point_? – not at all perturbed by the obvious animosity emanating from her. "At least I'm not constantly looking down my nose at good, honest folk; if you'd just wake up to yourself and stop looking down yours, you'd see the _quality material_ that's currently right underneath it."

His swarmy smile and lascivious glance looked suddenly almost dangerous, filling her with a rising sense of alarm; then without warning, he lunged forward, closing the gap between them and seizing her around the waist. She let out a sort of strangled yelp, hoping the sound would deter him; but he carried on heedlessly, fingers prying clumsily at her sash whilst the other hand pinioned her wrist, holding her firmly against his own rough body.

"_Get OFF me! Let me GO_!" she screamed, flailing wildly at him, but it was like tapping on a stone wall. With her ineffective struggles nevertheless impeding his progress with the sash, his hands shifted; she felt his rank breath on her cheek as his hand clutched at the front of her kimono, fingers sliding under the fabric-

"_Get OFF_!"

She blindly thrust her hand out towards his face; she felt her palm impact heavily with his jaw, and with a surprised utterance of '_oof!_' he reeled back momentarily. She used the opportunity to dart out from under his arm; his hand still clutched at the front of her robe, but she wretched it away, hearing the cloth tear, but not caring in her desperation to get away from him. She hastily kicked the fire out, trying to memorize the location of the door as the room fell into complete darkness; then she made a headlong dash for it, tripping on the rubble all over the floor but keeping on forward, intent on nothing but putting as much distance between herself and him as she possibly could.

His swearing as he groped around blindly, searching for a bit of still-burning kindling as he cursed her and his throbbing cheek, seemed to pursue her through the darkness, as though he breathed the very words down the back of her neck. She blocked it from her mind, and just kept on running.

* * *

Just before the halfway point, Daitaro heard approaching footsteps and tensed, hand automatically going for the knife in his belt. Then he relaxed slightly as he saw a streak of churning blue and purple come round the side of the temple. There was a swish as the medicine seller's arm cut a gracefully arc through the chill night air, and the wall beside Daitaro was plastered with charms, making a rhythmic sound as they hit, like hard rain pelting down on tiled rooftops. Having taken care of this five-_shaku_-square portion of wall, he paused and turned towards Daitaro, his face with its red markings looking eerily demonic in the semi-darkness of the torchlight.

"I lit all the torches of the first wall myself," he said, his quiet voice somehow carrying easily to Daitaro ten _shaku_ away, "so all that leaves for you to do is the rest of this last wall; then you can rejoin the others inside."

"Very good," Daitaro replied evenly, as though he were commenting on the weather rather than a mission that could preserve all their lives tonight. "Did you hear a cry a few moments ago?"

"Yes; it sounded like a night-bird. This task should be done soon; then we can collectively plan our next steps before morning."

"Understood."

The two men passed in mind-step – Daitaro to light the rest of the lanterns, the medicine seller to finish pasting his charms. He seemed to have an endless supply of them; they covered the wall thoroughly, until it looked more like a white rice-paper screen than a grey, dust-engrained stone wall.

The medicine seller worked quickly and ceaselessly, carefully sealing every _ken_ and _rin_ of wall space. He only stopped once; for a moment he paused, at a point where the top of the wall had been worn away slightly. The breeze blew erratically now and then, and his keen ears caught snatches of something drifting on the breeze, interposed between the rustling of leaves; it sounded almost like vague snatches of a _song_…

_… fox yip-yips on the top of …._

_… The gods … _

_ …rains to fall…_

_ … … rice seeds… …_

_…_

_ . …gods of death will c-…_

…

* * *

_*Shaku, mon and rin: old Japanese units of measurement. A shaku is about equivalent to a foot._

* * *

**_Author's Note:_**_ I thought I'd better add a warning, since I didn't know what jurisdiction there was for a scene of attempted rape – I've never written one before – and I didn't want to upset anyone. Perhaps I am being overcautious, but I thought it was best to warn people just in case. I don't think it was too shocking in any case – the series has its fair share of shenanigans, though possibly presented less explicitly (a case of two monks comes to mind)_

_Anyway, I hope I haven't offended anyone, or deterred anyone from reading the next chapter._

_Thanks for reading._

_Cheers, ~ W.J._


	9. Chapter 8: The Shrine

**Chapter 8 – The Shrine**

Kayo gradually slowed to a halt and stooped, panting, in the dark. She held her breath for a moment, listening carefully for any footsteps that might be following her; when she only heard silence, she allowed herself to breathe again. Her heart was pounding beneath the ripped fabric of her kimono, and she had to hold her elbows to stop them from shaking.

_Daisuke… that… that _lecher_…h-he had actually tried to… to-_

She shuddered again; what might have happened was just too much for her to even contemplate. Instead she looked around at her surroundings for the first time, wondering vaguely where her panicked escape had taken her to. It seemed she was in a very old, storm-damaged part of the temple building. The air reeked with mildew, and it was little wonder it did; there was a large hole in the ceiling, exposing the entire room to the elements. Now the moon came out, illuminating a wide circle of floor around her with a pale, silvery light. Peering into the shadows, Kayo made out something several paces ahead of her… it looked like a large, low bench, with something on it… something tall, with a shape that looked sort of _human_…

She started back for a moment, feeling every nerve in her body jolt violently; then she relaxed, realizing it was just a statue standing upon an altar. Recovering herself, she moved closer to investigate. It was a large idol – almost half as tall again as she was. The whole figure was badly damaged; she couldn't even tell if it was male or female. Beneath the mildew that covered it extensively, the face stared out blankly, eternally serene in expression. It made her feel a bit calmer, looking at those impassive features that never flinched or so much as frowned, despite all the damage the elements inflicted upon it. She wondered just who this idol was supposed to be. She glanced around, and noticed for the first time a humped shape a bit to her left. Moving closer, she realized it was a carved stone fox, sitting up at attention with its back arched. She looked to her right and saw another one. A pair of _kitsune_.

_This, then, must be a statue of Inari, the ambiguous, androgynous deity of rice and harvest. A natural choice for a farming town,_ Kayo supposed.

She moved over to one of the _kitsune_ statues – the one she had noticed first – and examined it more closely. It had a somewhat impish look about it that made it strangely appealing, with its funny pointed ears and slender muzzle. It had somehow fared better than its master; though incredibly dusty, it seemed to still be completely intact. She could see on it a few daubs of paint that hadn't yet worn away, and a moonbeam from above fell on something gleaming in its left ear… it looked like an _earring_…

She reached out a hand to touch it, and as she did, the _kitsune_'s eyes seemed to glow steadily. For a moment, she saw its face lit up in sharp relief, as though a flash of lightning had lit up the sky, and streaks of red paint on its immobile stone face seemed to burn like flame before her eyes-

_Chink!_

She had instinctively taken a step back, blinking at the sudden radiance; when she looked again, a thin veil of cloud had slid before the moon, ending the illusion. It had just been some trick of the light. _Or had it?_ She looked closer, squinting through the encroaching shadows. Something red was glinting in the dust at the _kitsune_'s feet…

She carefully picked it up between two fingers. It was the earring, set with a tiny red stone that winked mysteriously at her in the gloom. She looked to see if there was a hole in the stone where she could replace it, but peer as she might, straining to see in the semi-darkness, both ears seemed to be solid through. She walked to the other statue in case she was mistaken; sure enough, there was no earring in its ear, but as she turned away, another bright glimmer of red upon the stone altar caught her eye. She picked this one up as well and looked perplexedly at the pair of earrings in her hand. What was she supposed to do with them? _If the kitsune didn't want their earrings back…_

"What are you doing in here?"

Startled, Kayo whirled around to face the entranceway; her foot rolled on an uneven flagstone, and with a shrill shriek, she overbalanced and fell.

* * *

"Kayo-kun! Hey, where'd you go?!"

Daisuke held up his piece of burning string and peered down a dark, deserted corridor. He rubbed his throbbing chin again ruefully. _Who would've thought that such skinny hands could be so strong?_

"C'mon, I'm sorry already!" He blurted out the word reluctantly, saying it without any real sentiment. "Quit playing around! The others will be back soon, and th-"

He stopped. He thought he heard a noise ahead of him; a kind of scuffling, like feet on stone. He strode forward and turned a sharp corner. A figure stood before him, several paces away from where he stood.

"Kayo-…?"

No, not Kayo. Although this person had the same sort of pale-tan complexion and bobbed haircut, this clearly wasn't Kayo. Where Kayo was rather short and scrawny, this woman was slender, kind of willowy. Though she appeared to be a full-grown woman – the generous swell of bosom above her sash was enough to tell him that – she had a child's haircut with heavy bangs obscuring her eyes, and she wore a child's short kimono, which conveniently showed off a lot of shapely leg. Daisuke felt himself roused. The sight of this lush figure seemed a choice opportunity after his rather humiliating earlier rejection. _Perhaps he would have some fun tonight after all…_

As the woman saw him, she turned towards him with a beguiling smile that swelled his deflated ego. Then, with a peal of fluting laughter, she turned and flitted down the dark corridor, receding into the gloom.

"Hey! Hey, Miss! Wait up!"

Daisuke took off after her, enjoying the child-like game of chasings which nevertheless held so much more subtext – and a very _adult_ prize at its end. This suited him just fine. He'd show that other one – that mere _girl_ with the ridiculous delusions of grandeur – how _real women_ just couldn't get enough of this one Daisuke, the renowned _lady's man_.

* * *

"Geez, do you realize that's the third time today you've made me fall over?!"

The medicine seller didn't acknowledge Kayo's claim, although he did help her back onto her feet.

"What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be with Daisuke-san?"

"W-well, that is… h-he tried… to…"

Kayo stammered and stopped, unable to put it into words. She shamefully dropped her gaze, one hand unconsciously trying to hold the front of her rent kimono together. She realized her hand was shaking, the bell on her charm bracelet trembling silently.

"I see."

That was all he said, but his tone was gentle – he sounded like he meant it. She looked up; he was regarding her with his usual steady gaze. Yet it seemed to her that his eyes looked a bit softer than usual, though the startling make-up made it hard to tell for sure. They looked just a little less mysterious; less like the painted eyes of a mask, more like _real_ eyes were supposed to look. He _did_ seem to see. It sounded like he understood, and was sympathetic.

"Well then, let me sew up your kimono for you."

"Oh, t-t-that's alright, I'm w-wearing an u-under-robe," she explained, blushing profusely. "It's not like anyone can s-see anything…"

"Yes, but you might feel better if it is fixed."

She considered this for a moment. He was right, she realized. She would feel better, not walking around, bearing obvious evidence of what had almost _happened…_

She gave a tiny, almost imperceptible nod.

"First, let me get enough light to work by." There was a sharp _chink_, and a flame flared into life in his right hand, hovering just over his fingertips.

Kayo stared, instantly distracted by this new and miraculous feat. "H-how…?"

She expected him to pass it off as another trade secret, but to her surprise, he actually gave her an explanation of sorts. "The ring I'm wearing is made of flint. When I strike it with a fingernail, it creates a spark and produces a flame that can then be sustained in the hand for a short amount of time."

"W-wow, I've never seen anyone do that," she breathed, greatly impressed; her eyes watched the gently-flickering crimson flame as though mesmerized. "How do you get it to stay burning so steady and still like that?"

"Trade secret."

"Hmph." Usually, Kayo would've tried to cajole the secret out of him, but she didn't have the energy; she still felt very subdued, and slightly pathetic.

The medicine seller used the flame to light a large stone brazier that stood near the altar, and motioned her over. Still feeling slightly wary despite herself, she approached him.

_Why am I always getting myself into these situations?_ She wondered to herself as he produced a wad of material from his sleeve and unfolded it, revealing several loose hanks of red thread and a row of darning needles secured in the cloth. _It's not like I'm one of those shameless women in the red light district – some country girls end up working there, but I never became as base as that. So how do I always end up around these strange, perverted men?_

She silently watched as the medicine seller held a silver needle in his mouth, deftly threading it without even looking at it. _Well, he may be strange, but he doesn't seem perverted,_ she reassured herself._ I mean, he's just a tradesman; he's a medicine seller. That's almost like a physician. But then, even well-respected men can turn out to be filthy… You thought you knew Daisuke-kun all those years ago, and look how he turned out to be; and the old master, too… and it's true that you still don't know the medicine seller very well at all…_

"Alright, let me see the damage."

Trying to keep Daisuke's insinuations about herself and the medicine seller out of her mind, Kayo dropped her hands from where they had been protectively clasping the front of her kimono. She felt the medicine seller's unsettlingly-piercing stare take in the tear in the material. Although it was true that she wore a white under-robe beneath the torn outer kimono, she felt horribly bare and vulnerable.

"It's just a small tear. The edges are a bit ragged, but I should be able to bring it together again. Hold still, it will only take a minute."

As he reached out towards her with both hands, she had to force herself not to instinctively take a step back. With nimble fingers he smoothed the edges of the cloth together, and holding them firmly in place, he began to sew. His touch was so light that except for the pull of the thread through the fabric, she couldn't feel him working at all. She had tilted her head back so that he could better see what he was doing; now she carefully peered down at him. He appeared to be absorbed in his task; though he seemed to have the best intentions about it, having him stare so fixedly at her chest still made her blush furiously.

As though he sensed her discomfort, he deftly secured the last stitch, snapped the excess thread off with the needle, and declared: "All done."

She felt along the collar of her robe; where the tear had been, she felt the cloth puckered slightly, but a row of tiny, uniform stitches held the cloth firmly together. "You did a really neat job of it," she said with professional approval. She hadn't expected a man – and a medicine seller, at that! – to be so good at _sewing_…

"Such things require only precision and knowledge. Once you know how, there is no real difficulty in doing it."

"Huh. Try telling that to other women like me who only learned to sew by learning not to stick their fingers with the needle," she retorted, dismissing his philosophical standpoint on the issue. He had said a similar thing about fixing her sandal…

"This is a rather interesting place."

He was abruptly changing the subject with his usual mysterious, evasive manner, but she didn't really mind. He was examining the altar with a seemingly casual glance. The statues stared right back at him with a gaze that was so similar, it was almost uncanny.

"Yeah, I was just admiring the statues when you came in. I guess they used to worship Inari here."

He wandered over to closer inspect one of the _kitsune_ statues – the one on the left – and she was just thinking of asking him whether temple statues usually wore earrings, when he asked her a question instead.

"Do you know why there are always two fox statues on an Inari shrine?"

She was rather surprised by his query. "N-no," she replied uncertainly; she hadn't really ever thought about it. It just seemed natural that there were always two. "I guess it would look a bit strange if there was only one… People wouldn't know which side of the altar it was supposed to go on, so it's easier to have one on either side…"

"Heh, that's true." Had she just heard him chuckle? He seemed amused, as though the subject interested him. It was so rare, from what she knew of him, for him to acknowledge anything that didn't involve exorcizing the current _ayakashi,_ that she paid extra-close attention to what he was saying.

"There is, in fact, another reason."

* * *

"Daisuke-kun? Kusuriuri-san?"

Daitaro's voice echoed dully in the stale air of the deserted vestibule. The grate was dark, though ashes were scattered everywhere, and there was no sign of anyone at all insi-

Daitaro turned sharply. From somewhere deeper within the darkened corridors that led to the priests' quarters, he heard sounds of people moving about – a kind of scrabbling like feet on stone, and a peal of high-pitched, feminine laughter that drifted eerily out of the darkness. The sound was mirth-filled, yet seemed so out-of-place here – in these dank, uninviting surrounds which had nevertheless once been devoted to asceticism – that it sent a faint chill down the spine of the ever-stoic Daitaro.

"Kayo-chan…?"

Daitaro headed in the direction the sounds had come from, an as-yet unrealized fear starting to rankle insistently at the back of his mind.

* * *

_"Long ago, when the world was still new and the humans were still finding their place in the scheme of things, the ayakashi were far more prevalent than they currently are now. Scores of humans were overcome by their influence, and the mortal world became plagued by mononoke. The old gods saw this, but despite their power, there was little they could do, for the mononoke thrived on sins which had their root in human weakness. So long as humans themselves continued to live dishonest lives, they could never avoid becoming prey for mononoke. And so, most of the gods forsook humanity, retiring to their realm within the heavens. The only god who did not do so was Inari._

_"Inari is often considered to be the god who is closest to humanity. The deity watches over farming, harvest and rice; the things which are the life-blood of the common people. Over time, Inari has also come to represent sword-smithing and warriors, and is also a protector of good health. Seeing the carnage the mononoke were creating in the mortal world, instead of abandoning humanity, Inari drew closer, descending to the earth to better observe and devise a way to stop the mononoke from constantly taking advantage."_

"Did Inari find a way?" Kayo asked. She had been listening in rapt silence to the medicine seller's tale thus far, as she hadn't heard this story before, and given past experience, she was eager to know how the _ayakashi_ problem could be solved. "Surely, if the gods found a way to stop _mononoke_ from attacking people, there wouldn't be any around today, and you wouldn't have a job, either."

The medicine seller's enigmatic smile twitched slightly at the corners. "I am but a simple medicine seller. It could be said that I humbly aid Inari's duties of watching over health, by providing cures to small ailments."

"Yeah, yeah." Kayo waved the medicine seller's deferential aside impatiently. She was getting rather tired of hearing them.

"However, few cures are instantaneous. Most medicines take a long time, and several doses, before they start to work. And even then, merely taking medicine isn't enough. Medicine is not the whole cure; the body must accept it, and work with it, in order for a remedy to work."

"I don't get what you mean," Kayo said with a slight frown, playing with her bracelet. "Surely if people don't want to be haunted by _ayakashi_, they will 'agree with the cure' right away, won't they?"

"It's not as easy as that. As you know, before a cure can be prescribed, three symptoms must be known and understood – the Katachi, the Makoto, and the Kotowari. However, even in the face of a haunting of _ayakashi_, most people invariably choose to cling to their deceptions rather than face their Truth and Regret. In many cases, the original weakness that has attracted the _ayakashi_ in the first place is the hardest medicines to swallow, even more formidable than any supernatural force."

"B-but surely…" Kayo began, then stopped.

She remembered the perverted old master, and the secrets he had hidden deep within the household, keeping his silence even as the entire family perished; and the old priest, swollen with squandered ambition and devoured by a hidden guilt, to the point where he couldn't even admit to himself that he had mistreated his sister. _Surely I'm not so naive as to think that all people would so readily admit that they were wrong?_ Kayo rebuked herself. _Especially people from noble families or in lofty positions. Perhaps common people are different… but then again, maybe they're not… just look at what Daisuke-kun turned out to be… and he still thinks he's great person…_

"Is there any hope, then?" she asked him rather despondently, shivering as she remembered the _mononoke_ that could be stalking outside the temple walls right now, wondering fearfully what it was trying to 'feed on'. "If there will always be people who lie, can humanity really be saved from the _ayakashi_ that feed on dishonesty?"

"Ah, well… there is a hope, in some cases," the medicine seller replied matter-of-factly, as though the matter didn't really concern him all that much. "As in medicine, the effectiveness of each cure depends on the strength of the person it is given to."

Kayo merely shivered again as a cool breeze whipped through the hole in the ceiling. She began to wonder, not for the first time that night, which one of them was being dishonest – or at least, which act of dishonesty this particular _mononoke, _the_ jubokko,_ was fixated upon. After the previous incident, she was inclined to think that it was all Daisuke's fault, but then, if it had to do with plants…

_Just who, then, was the Matoko?_

* * *

"Hey, Miss! Where'd you go? Are you lost? Wait up, Miss!"

Daisuke stumbled through the dark, narrow corridors of the priest's quarters, cursing as his still-damp sandals slipped underfoot. _All women are damn fools_, he muttered inwardly. _Damn tomfoolery. Can't they give a guy a break? Why do they have to play around, act all stuck-up, make it so hard for you, just to get a decent-_

He rounded a corner, and skidded to a halt. The mysterious woman was just ahead of him, standing with her back to him. Even from behind, her figure was superb. Her skin wasn't very white, having vague blemishes like old scars or faint birthmarks on the back of her hands, and her feet were large and angular, not at all lady-like; but such thinks didn't worry Daisuke. Such things didn't even enter his consideration. As he watched, the woman reached up and loosened the sash around her slim waist. With a sinuous flick of her wrist, she tossed it disdainfully onto the dusty floor. The cloth of her robe fell slack around her shoulders. As though it were hanging open at the front.

Daisuke just about had to struggle to keep his eyes in his head; he found it strangely difficult to get his breath back after the brief chase he had been led on. _Of all the good luck that could befall him-!_ He silently thanked fate for aligning him with this woman tonight. After one failed conquest after another, his karma had finally turned around…

_"Do you think I'm beautiful?"_

The woman's voice was high and senuous, gently teasing; with her back still to him, he couldn't yet see her face, but the coquettish tilt of her head, the gratuitous expanse of bare leg, and the rich curves visible beneath the cloth were enough to make his mind up for him.

"Y-yes," he declared, taking several steps towards her, until he was within arm's length; he carelessly dropped his lit piece of string to the ground, its meagre light glistening on the backs of the woman's shapely calves. He heard a hint of laughter, his swift response obviously pleasing her; torturously slowly, she turned towards him. He drew forward eagerly, his eyes instantly drawn to the open front of her robe…

_"How about now?"_

The woman wasn't exactly well-endowed. In fact, she had no chest at all. There was a huge, gaping hole in the front of her body, crumbling timber fibres visible within the yawning hole, like an open, gangrenous wound. She was like a rotted-out old log; a lump of _dead wood_.

In an instant he recoiled, horror-stricken; before he could go any further, strong fingers closed around his wrist, digging in with the sharp, pointed tips of bare branches. He saw her face for the first time; up close, the swirls of a tawny wood-grain were plainly visible on her 'skin' – or rather, her _bark_. It was suddenly glaringly obvious that her hair was made up of matted twigs, sitting like an unruly bird's nest upon her head; from beneath this tatty fringe, two deep, dark knot-hole eyes peered, sightless and empty. She opened her mouth, and he realized that it was just a wide split from one side of her face to the other; it was full of jagged splinters which looked sinisterly like _teeth_.

Straining to escape her – its – tenacious grip, his only response to her question was a hoarse scream of abject terror; then the mouthful of splinters closed on his throat with a wet-sounding _squelch_.

Daisuke's karma had finally come to claim him.

* * *

_Author's Note: well, there goes another one. Hope that wasn't too graphic; that will probably be as gruesome as it gets from here on out. Probably._

_There are even more clues in this chapter as to what Kusuriuri might be - rather obvious clues, I believe. For those wondering what the clue back in Chapter 4 was, I can give you a hint: it was a type of udon. Combine that with a Japanese dictionary and the very obvious clues from this chapter, and you'll get what I mean._

_I took some liberties with the abilities of Kusuriuri-san's jewellry, but I wanted to give him a reason for suddenly acquiring them in the 'modern bake-nekko' story arc (well not really suddenly since several decades were supposed to have passed, but you get what I mean)._

_Please excuse this shameless self-promotion: I now have a new account over at Fiction Press. net, and a new story with similar themes and style to this one, so if you like this story, please head over and read my original fiction, the particular story in question is called _Kitsune-Hime: Lady of Foxes

Thank you for reading, and a new chapter is in the works, so please stay tuned!

~ W.J.


	10. Chapter 9: The Makoto

**Chapter 9 – The Makoto**

_Ching!_

Kayo just about jumped out of her skin – it had almost become an instinctive reaction to flinch. She looked down, and once again saw a lone set of scales at her feet. It had tipped over towards the inside wall of the shrine. The medicine seller's eyes widened; his head snapped around in the same direction, as though he could see through the wall itself to the very source of the disturbance…

"Something is out there. Let's go."

Before Kayo had time to ask, he grabbed her hand and pulled her along after him. She was out the door to the inner shrine before she realized what was happening. She had just thought that she had regained her equilibrium when he suddenly swerved around a sharp bend, almost making her overbalance; his hand swiftly pulled her upright again, and he continued to haul her along behind him. She felt like just one of his sleeves, billowing in his wake, somehow carried along with him in his headlong dash. The draughty halls were too dim for her to properly see where they were going; she simply had to follow him blindly, marvelling at how he navigated through the gloom with ease, never putting a foot wrong and never so much as slowing down when he came to a corner. His feet pounded the floor furiously; without his geta, his bare feet made a muted thud with each step.

_tm-tm…tm-tm…tm-t-_

They hit a point where two corridors intersected. He paused for a moment, the sword held before him; then, as though responding to something Kayo couldn't hear, he turned confidently down a narrow passage, dragging her after him again.

"What… is…it?" she managed to pant between steps.

"Something is wrong. There is a presence within the barrier."

That was all he would say as they hurtled through a warren of hallways, off which Kayo snatched momentary glimpses of narrow rooms which had once served as the simple abodes of priests. She didn't bother questioning him further. She simply kept up as best she could, wondering vaguely whether it would be smarter to run in the opposite direction. As they turned another corner, a light came into view ahead of them; it had to be one of the others-

He came to such an abrupt halt, she just about cannoned into him; managing to find her footing, she peered over his shoulder, then instantly wished she hadn't. Another pair of feet came thudding up behind them.

"I heard a cry. Did someone-"

The medicine seller thrust out his arm to prevent Daitaro from approaching the scene before them, but there wasn't really any need; he seemed frozen in place. Kayo heard the usually reserved man sharply take in a shuddery breath; then something almost like a sob escaped his lips.

"_Daisuke…_"

Even in the scarlet glow of his discarded torch, Daisuke's face was almost tinged blue in its pallor; in contrast, a shockingly red rivulet ran down from his throat, soaking into his clothes until it dripped off onto the floor beneath him. The source of the flow was not visible, as it was pinioned beneath the jaws of a strange-looking creature. For a moment, Kayo thought it was a person, a waifish girl with a short bob of hair; then her eyes better adjusted to the gloom, and she realized that what she had mistaken for a person was in fact more like a twisted, poorly-crafted imitation of what a person should look like. This monstrous thing was almost human in shape, but somehow wrong, like a wooden statue that had been left out in the rain and become warped from the damp. It wore a tattered robe over its gnarled, nut-brown limbs, on which a wood-grain pattern was plainly visible, and its hair was a shaggy mass of twigs. Sensing their presence, it raised its head; two empty knothole eye-sockets glared back at them, and its wide mouthful of tiny teeth – no, _splinters_ – was stained red. With a snarl like two rough branches scraping together, it took a step towards them.

Uttering a sudden hoarse yell, Daitaro darted around the medicine seller's outstretched arm and hurled himself at the creature.

"Murderous beast!" he shrieked in a voice that seemed to belong to another person; Kayo had seldom heard him speak louder than his customary calm, casual tone of voice. It seemed his utter despair had driven him to uncharacteristically rash behaviour. "How dare you! _My son-!_" He held his knife high, determined to strike at the plant-thing's head-

He came to an abrupt halt and keeled over backwards as though he had hit an invisible wall, the knife flying from his hands. Dazed and confused, he felt something clamped around his wrist; he looked, and saw what appeared to be just a long strip of paper. Yet it had been strong enough to pull him backwards and completely off his feet in the midst of his headlong charge.

"Don't rush it. You'll only end up sharing your son's fate."

A blue wind flew past Daitaro's left ear; the end of the paper strip uncoiled itself from his wrist and whistled through the air as keenly as any blade, aimed squarely at the tree-monster's torso.

_Thwack!_

"Wh-?!"

The medicine seller skidded to a stop. The paper's strike had made the monster mutter in pain; Daisuke's body fell free of its jaws and rolled onto the floor, his torn throat a gory mess, steadily streaming blood. However, the strike that had been meant to bisect the plant-thing in half wasn't having any real effect. The medicine seller wound his hand firmly in the paper strip, pulling hard; it would not budge. The strip itself had undergone a strange transformation – its end seemed to have melded to the monster's body, and it gradually changed from white to brown right down its length, sprouting twigs and leaves as it did so. The medicine seller hastily dropped what had once been the strip of paper; it jerked itself away from him of its own accord. The new vine moved at first languidly, but then with a growing confidence. It suddenly flung its coils at the spot where the medicine seller had been standing. He wasn't there any more; Daitaro looked up and found him standing over him. He helped the other man to his feet.

"Get back, both of you," the medicine seller instructed them tersely as he himself stood his ground, the sword raised before him. "It may be a _mononoke_ made of plants, but it is getting much stronger, and now it is also moving faster."

Kayo obediently began to back away, her heart thudding hard. She carefully placed each step she took, fearing that if she should stumble and fall, she would become easy prey for the _thing_ before them. Suddenly it was no longer there in front of them; it was gone, leaving only a few dead leaves and a bloody corpse in its wake. Kayo and Daitaro uttered cries, glancing every which way, looking for signs of where it had gone. It seemed to have simply vanished into the very stone of the floor or walls…

The medicine seller's gaze shot upwards.

Kayo felt something brush against her shoulder. She screamed and twisted away to one side; a hanging vine was writhing in the space she had just occupied, still searching for her. She looked up. The _mononoke_ looked back at her, making a soft hissing sound, like leaves rustling in a sharp wind. It clung to the ceiling above like a creeper. More vines dropped down around her, groping madly about for their prey. Kayo dodged frantically, trying to avoid the snatching wooden tentacles. She was completely unprepared when a hand shoved her roughly to one side, knocking her off her feet with such a force that she hit the ground and slid several _shaku_ further. Daitaro landed not far from her, seeming to have been similarly deposited on the floor. They had both ended up far from where they had just been standing.

"Run toward the inner shrine!" the medicine seller called to them. He had just stopped moving after having launched them down the hall; Kayo now saw that they were just beyond the reach of the monster's vines. However, they wouldn't be for long if they stayed where they now were; vines were rapidly swarming over the ceiling, finding new holds to cling to, growing upwards through the joins in the stone. The medicine seller was standing directly beneath the creature's main body; its red-stained, splintery maw grinned menacingly down at him.

"But you can't-!" Kayo began to protested, taking a step towards him; after all he had done, she wasn't about to just leave him-

"Go! Hurry! My charms can't contain it any longer, and you need to be well out of its range before I can attack it!" The medicine seller shouted over the nauseating sound of slithering vines; his pale lips were pulled back in a feral snarl that might have suited a battle-hardened warrior. Or a growling woodland beast.

Seeing he had some concealed intention, Kayo instead turned to the man beside her. Daitaro was staring fixedly down the hall, and hadn't seemed to have heard their exchange at all. "Come on, Daitaro-san, we have to go!" She grabbed a fistful of his sleeve and tried vainly to drag him down the corridor. "Hurry!" she beseeched him, tugging harder when he showed no signs of following her. "We have to get away from it!"

Daitaro hesitated, looking back fretfully at the still figure lying on the floor beyond the medicine seller. "B-but… _my son_…" he protested weakly.

"There's nothing more you can do here! You need to keep your _own_ life!"

Daitaro just looked blankly back at her, as though this was a foreign concept. Kayo's heart wrenched painfully as she saw the new, haggard lines upon the man's face; he seemed to have lost all regard for his own safety in the midst of his grief. She renewed her efforts; gradually, Daitaro stopped resisting her and followed her down the corridor in a half-hearted jog.

Tens of swaying wooden tentacles were now undulating from the point on the ceiling where the _mononoke_ was perched. They were centred around the lone figure standing beneath them. The medicine seller was dwarfed by the thing's far-reaching radius of vines. He looked like a miniscule fish about to be devoured by a large sea anemone. However, even when directly face-to-face with the demon that had already brutually truncated three lives in one night, his face was impassive as ever; he held his sword up defiantly, his free hand also raised above his head. He darted a swift glance towards Kayo and Daitaro's retreating backs; seeing that they had almost reached the point where the corridor turned a sharp corner, he turned his gaze back to the creature that leered down at him, and he snapped the fingers of his empty hand.

_Chink!_

There was a metallic sound, and a tongue of scarlet flame flared in his palm. He thrust his hand – and the flame – upwards. A ball of fire hurtled towards the ceiling. It struck the creature square on, right in the hollow of its rotted-out chest. There was a dull roar; it was hard to tell whether the sound came from the fire itself, or the monster it had struck. The wood was dry, and within moments, fire spread all along its length. Ash and burning chunks of wood rained down from above; flailing about in spasms of pain as the flames steadily devoured it, the monster lost its hold on the ceiling and came crashing to the floor in a shower of sparks.

Having pulled Daitaro to safety, Kayo peered carefully around the corner, feeling the intense heat of the flames on her face even from a distance. She had briefly turned to look back when she had heard the creature groan in its death throes; she had seen the medicine seller still standing in the same spot as the monster had hurtled down towards him, shrieking and flaming. She was scared that he hadn't been able to make it away in time…

Red-rim eyes peered back at her from round the corner, making her squawk in surprise and stumble backward; luckily she merely bumped gently into Daitaro, and so didn't fall over a fourth time. The medicine seller emerged fully out of the smoke-filled corridor. The tips of his sleeves and bandanna were singed, and there was a smudge of soot upon his pale cheek, like an additional streak of war-paint; otherwise he appeared to be no worse for wear.

"Keep going!" he told her, raising his voice over the crackle of flames behind him. "Soon this whole area will be burning; we need to get to the furthest reaches of the building before then."

They hastily set off at a run. After fleeing for a while in silence, listening only to the gradually-receding murmur of the flames behind them and the panting of their own breaths, Daitaro suddenly uttered a stricken-sounding cry. Fearing he had tripped and fallen, Kayo half-turned; Daitaro was still on his feet, but he was stumbling like a drunken man. She reached out to help him, grasping his wrist and pulling him onwards, much like the medicine seller had done for her before. Noticing that Daitaro seemed to be staring fixedly in the other man's direction, Kayo looked as well, and instantly realized what had made him falter.

The medicine seller carried something large upon his back, but it wasn't his medicine pack, which he had left back at the noodle stall. The inert body of Daisuke was slung across his shoulders.

* * *

They retreated back to the inner shrine; they had to get as far away from the fire as possible. Kayo could see a distant plume of smoke through the hole in the ceiling, drifting up towards the sky and reflecting an orange glow from the flames. However the inner shrine was quiet, separated from the priest's quarters by a labyrinth of stone-walled corridors. Though Kayo was slightly alarmed by the proximity of the flames, the medicine seller assured her that the fire would most likely be contained to the east side of the complex. The inner shrine had since been added to the main temple and was a self-contained chamber, though it shared the main vestibule's eastern wall. It was doubtful that the fire would spread here unless there were gale-force winds to drive it; luckily the night air was still and damp, preventing there from being too many sparks. Once the medicine seller had thoroughly pasted the walls with charms, set up a ring of scales as sentinels, and drawn a circle around that with the salt they had taken from the noodle stall, Kayo began to feel relatively safe again. Well, as safe as she _could_ feel in these circumstances, at any rate.

Daisuke was placed at the foot of Inari's altar and covered with a scrap of straw matting that had been lying in a corner. There was very little else that could be done for him. His throat had been nearly completely torn out, and what was left of it was still pieced by several splinters as long as a child's finger. His soul had long since departed for the next world. Kayo stood awkwardly beside the body. She hadn't been able to look at it for too long; his eyes, once full of leering egotism, now only stared back blankly, and the sight of all that blood made her feel incredibly nauseous. It wasn't the first corpse she had seen by any means, but for some reason it did fill her with a great deal more regret than she had ever felt in her life; it felt almost like guilt. She couldn't help but think that if she hadn't run away from him before, Daisuke might still be alive…

She hoped the gods wouldn't judge him too harshly in the next realm. All was forgiven in death. The statue of Inari seemed to peer down at the body from the altar, showing nothing more than eternal serenity upon its features. Kayo hoped that this was a good sign.

It soon became apparent that Daisuke's death had had a similar cause to that of Tetsuya. As soon as he had laid him down, the medicine seller had produced a scarlet leaf which had been tucked into Daisuke's sash; he had let it flutter slowly to the ground, where it had instantly crumbled into ash, much like what had become of the rest of the tree-monster. The medicine seller had tended to the body, respectfully closing its eyes and covering its face with an unburned piece of oilskin. _He probably does this sort of thing quite often, what with the line of work he's in,_ Kayo thought sadly. _Even though he's quite powerful and always manages to slay the mononoke, he can't always prevent the deaths from happening…_ She remembered the fate of the entire Sakai household, from which there had also been only three survivors; another ominous shiver jolted along her spine.

Daitaro seemed incapable of performing his son's last rites himself. He stood by with a slackened jaw and eyes which looked almost as lifeless as the corpse's own; it was as though a part of him had also died. He looked somewhat limp, his back bent at a despondent angle and his hands hanging weakly by his sides. Without warning, one of those hands formed itself into a pointing finger which jabbed accusatorily at Kayo and the medicine seller in turn.

"_You_-!"

He almost growled out the word; Kayo took a startled step back. "This is _your_ doing!" he continued, launching into a grief-stricken tirade. "It's because you were here that this happened! Things were fine here until you pair showed up! It's only since you came here that the trouble started! If you hadn't come… then perhaps he would be…" He broke off, spluttering slightly, trying vainly to veil his emotion as tears ran freely down his cheeks. "It's because of you!" he shouted again vehemently, his voice still cracking, but now containing gathering conviction; his eyes bore into Kayo with blind fury, making her take another involuntary step back. "You villains! You did this to us! You might as well have murdered my son with your own hands!" He drew breath and looked like he was about to say more, but at that moment his hands flew to his mouth and he whirled around, struggling with something close to his face. He turned back towards her, and Kayo saw that a paper charm was firmly sealed over his lips. Though he clawed and tugged at it with all his might, it would not budge.

"You've said enough." The medicine seller crossed his arms and casually watched Daitaro's futile attempts to peel the paper away. He seemed more bemused than insulted by the man's words. "You had best stay silent until you regain control of yourself, least you say something quite regrettable." Daitaro gradually stopped struggling, settling instead for glaring at the medicine seller with the utmost animosity. In return, the medicine seller regarded him with a slight, sardonic smile. "In fact, your words just now have been quite helpful. Though what you said may not be true in the sense that you intended, it _is_ true that one who is still among us is the cause of this _mononoke's_ attacks."

"_What_?!" Kayo yelped, turning to him incredulously. "You mean it's still after one of _us_?! I thought that one of those who is already… _d-dead_… must be the one to blame… I thought Harada and Tatsuya seemed the most likely, since they actually organized the cutting-down of the tree; or perhaps-…" She trailed off, not even daring to suggest Daisuke or Daitaro in the latter's presence; though the words were left unsaid, the man nevertheless scowled resentfully at her, as though he would have offered her some choice words if it weren't for the paper seal over his mouth.

"No, what Daitaro-san says is the truth," the medicine seller reiterated thoughtfully. "It still seems to be searching for the true object of its rampage. It is most unlike a _mononoke_ of this type to attack a random group of passersby for no reason." The medicine seller's pale blue eyes shone eerily in the flickering light from the brazier; they looked like phantom ghost-flames against the density of the shadows that half-shrouded his face. "There must be reasons why we have all become objects of the _jubokko's _animosity; we have all either provoked it individually, or simply been in its way. Harada-san threatened its life. Tatsuya-san sanctioned its destruction; he also acted as a host for one of its leaves, allowing it to pursue us to the noodle stand. As for Daisuke-san…" He stopped for a moment, seemingly considering his words carefully. "Daisuke-san was similarly used so that the _jubokko_ could follow us here to the temple. He was also unfortunate enough to be momentarily in the wrong place at the wrong time. Whilst Daitaro-san and I were outside in the temple grounds, where we might have been easily ambushed by surrounding branches, the _jubokko_ instead infiltrated the temple building itself. As opposed to us who ventured out, unprotected and alone, Daisuke-san should have been much safer inside. However, he was also the one who was left behind to watch over _Kayo-san_."

Those twin blue flames alighted on her. Though his gaze was not hostile, coupled with the implication of his words, it seemed to chill her right to the core, until her mind was numb with cold.

"The _mononoke's_ Makoto – is _Kayo-san._"

_Clack!_

The teeth of the sword's hilt snapped shut with an unsettling finality. The _mononoke's _Makoto had been identified.


	11. Chapter 10: Home Remedies

**Chapter 10 – Home Remedies**

*Animals and children  
Tell the truth, they never lie  
Which one is more human?  
There's a thought – now you decide*

* * *

Kayo didn't remember sitting down, but now she was seated on the cold stone floor. She wasn't entirely sure what she was feeling; the only emotion she could register was 'stunned'. She lifted her head and looked at the medicine seller, who was seated opposite her. He was watching her quietly, his customary half-smile on his face. As though he were watching for a reaction. As though he was waiting to see if she had an answer.

"B-but… that's _impossible_!" she stammered out at last.

"Nevertheless, it is the _truth_." The medicine seller held the sword comfortably in his lap. Its tiny gemstone eyes peered up at her, flashing almost demonically in the firelight from the stone brazier. That stare didn't look at all vacant; it looked cognitive, penetrating. As though it knew as much as its master. What both of them saw in her to convince them of her guilt, she had no idea. It seemed preposterous.

"But it _can't_ be true!" she protested. "What reason does the _mononoke_ have for hating me? I wasn't trying to cut the tree down. In fact, I wanted to save it. It doesn't have any _reason_ to attack me!"

"There must be a reason."

The medicine seller continued to smile steadily at her. _He actually looks pleased about all this-!_ In a sudden rush, Kayo remembered how he had laughed back on the boat to Edo, as they had sailed unwittingly into the clutches of the Dragon's Triangle; as though he had secretly wanted it to happen all along, no matter the personal cost to the other people on board. _All he cares about is defeating the mononoke,_ Kayo reminded herself, a bit of her trust in him withering away. _He's just trying to find answers any way he can. Except this time, he's definitely looking in the wrong place!_

"There is always a reason – a Kotowari," the medicine seller continued. "And in this instance, the answer to the Kotowari lies with you." He fell silent again. Waiting again. Waiting for her to give him that answer.

"But I don't _have_ any answer!" She was feeling increasingly frustrated; increasingly prosecuted. "I know that you said that _ayakashi_ feed on dishonesty, but I'm _not_ being dishonest! I honestly have no idea what the _ayakashi _would want with me! I've done nothing to it! I haven't even _been_ here for the last ten years! How could I make it hate me when I haven't even been anywhere _near_ it?!" She glanced at Daitaro-san, almost afraid of what she would see after his previous outburst; to her relief, though his mouth was still covered by the paper charm, he looked almost as incredulous as she felt.

"Perhaps, but nevertheless, you and the _jubokko_ have a connection. Back at the noodle stall, it was trying to kill the rest of us, but instead of attacking you, it tried to pick you up and carry you away for _some reason_. It doesn't have to be something that you have done wrong. The _mononoke_ has directed its anger at the rest of us for getting between it and you, but it may not bear any actual hatred towards you. It may be attracted to you _because _of your sympathy."

"It could come after me for something as simple as _that_?!" Kayo sounded utterly sceptical.

"That depends on the reason why it _wants_ your sympathy, and why it wants sympathy only from _you_." The medicine seller folded his arms thoughtfully, the bell on his sword's hilt chiming with his movement. "This isn't the sort of bond, though, that could form in the few days that you've been back here. A _mononoke_'s Form is dictated by its Truth and Reasoning; the creature that attacked us before in the priest's quarters took the form of a young woman, but it looked and was dressed like a child. It took this form in order to strengthen its empathy with you. Therefore, the Kotowari must have developed long before now – back before you left this village."

"All the way back _then_?!" Kayo repeated. It seemed to be getting more and more improbable. "But I didn't-"

"Stop." Suddenly the medicine seller was reaching across the brazier towards her. His sudden action caught her in mid-sentence; she hadn't even seen him move, but his cold fingertip was pressed against her forehead. "There is no point in fleeing the truth. The sword always knows what is true. There is no room for conjecture or human error. Its knowledge is absolute; what it approves absolutely _must be true._ Now, you must accept that. Take a deep breath."

Kayo hesitated. After all, it wasn't as though she actually _knew_ him; she had no connection to him, no reason to obey him. Just because he was a man didn't make him her master; if she didn't feel like complying-

She looked past his hand. Blue eyes stared quietly into hers, as though they were full of blue water that poured forth in a single unbroken cascade, hurtling straight back down her line of sight. He wasn't smiling anymore.

_I _do_ have a connection to him… he's saved my life several times, and possibly the lives of countless others as well…_

She obediently drew a deep breath and let it out. It didn't change much, but the steadfast denial relaxed a bit of its grip on her mind. She felt a bit calmer, even though she didn't really want to be. He seemed satisfied.

"Good. Now cast your mind back to your years here as a child. Sort through your memories one by one, receiving whichever come to you. Survey any incidents that jump out at you, concerning woods or trees in general. It was a long time ago, but you can do it. Take your time and really think about it."

He retracted his hand, but his gaze stayed upon her; with that external distraction, the last thing she wanted to do was cast her mind inwards. However, she obediently sifted through some random memories half-heartedly. She remembered waiting with her grandmother for her mother to finish work, in the old hut next to the tree, and she would sometimes play among the tree's roots; but surely lots of other children, and people in general, often stopped along the busy road for some reason or other…

"I really can't think of anything that would make it come after me in particular…"

"Don't give up. Just keep remembering."

The strain of trying only made her head ache, as though a cord was wound and pulling tightly around her forehead. She raised a hand to gently rub her aching temples…

As she did so, her hand brushed through her hair. The short haircut swayed gently around her shoulders, strands momentarily falling in front of her eyes. The sensation felt strangely familiar… _she hadn't had her hair cut this short since she was a child…_

A stray memory flitted across the path of her reminiscence. She froze, as though the slightest physical movement would displace it from her mind. She very vaguely remembered, more than ten years ago…

* * *

_Kayo and her friend Momoka were playing in the village square; Momoka had found an empty cicada shell, and was trying to place it in Kayo's hair as an ornament, despite the latter's best efforts to dodge. They were laughing and running on the packed dirt outside the thatched-roof huts, squealing at the excitement of play, when a nearby door opened, and an adult appeared._

_"Quiet, you children, behave yourselves! You're disturbing the entire village, chittering away like monkeys!"_

_"Awww, but we're only having fun," Momoka replied pertly, sticking out her bottom lip. The grown-up merely responded by wagging a cautionary finger, and continuing on with the diatribe:_

_ "If you don't behave, the woodsman will come and take you away to a place in the forest so deep, you will never find the way out again, and we will be forever free of your incessant screeching. That's what happens to naughty little children who don't respect their elders. Think before you act, Momoka-chan."_

* * *

"Of course, no one ever actually got taken away," Kayo explained to the others. "Grown-ups used to tell us stuff like that all the time to make us behave, but that's the only one that had anything to do with trees. The others all involved _tengu_ or _kappa_ and such taking naughty children away. This one was at least a bit more likely."

"Was that a common saying amongst the people of this region?" the medicine seller asked. He had watched her intently throughout her recital, banal though the subject matter had seemed.

"Not really; only the older people used it, like my grandmother. Although, now that I think about it… we used to hear it a lot when we played in the empty field on the edge of the village… in fact, the one who used to say it the most must've been…"

Both Kayo and the medicine seller turned towards Daitaro; he looked back at them in surprise, mute behind the paper seal on his lips. The medicine seller raised a single finger, waving it as though swatting a fly away; at his gesture, the paper peeled itself away and fell limply to the floor. Daitaro took in a great gasp of air, looking intensely glad to be able to open his mouth again. To Kayo's great relief, he didn't start yelling again.

"Do you know anything about this local legend, Daitaro-san?"

Daitaro frowned. "I know something about it," he admitted. "My own parents and grandparents used to say that phrase all the time, and I believe that such folklore is actually based on an incident that happened here long ago. I only know bits and pieces from what I've read; my grandparents would never talk much about what the village was like all those years ago, when the great drought took place. However, I'm afraid I came across the knowledge in a rather dishonest manner. A couple of years ago, Tatsuya-san insisted on cleaning out the village archives, and he discarded a great many scrolls. Most of them would have been burned, but I thought it would be prudent to save some of them. I may be a farmer now, but in my youth I had some education, and before Tatsuya-san moved the archives to the village storehouse, they were kept in a spare room in my own house. I felt a duty to the records that had once been in my care, and secretly saved some of them from destruction."

"A wise decision."

Daitaro dismissed the medicine seller's compliment with a weary shrug of his shoulders. "Perhaps; or perhaps not. It was impertinent of me to take matters into my own hands in such a way. Once I had read the scrolls I had saved, I realized why Tatsuya-san would rather they have been burned. Tatsuya-san is- er, _was_ very proud of this village, and carefully fostered its development into a place with a fortuitous reputation, particularly after the droughts nearly destroyed this place many decades ago. If anyone were to now learn the content of these scrolls after all these years, it would permanently besmirch the reputation of not just this region, but the entire _han_."

He stopped, looking even graver than usual. His grey eyes bore into the medicine seller with a steely glance that had not been there prior. It was not the despondent look of grief or the uncontrollable flames of anger; it was a silent search for some proof of trustworthiness in the enigmatic man before him. Kayo had to admit that given the medicine seller's irregular appearance, it was a rather laborious search.

"You have my word that I will not repeat what I hear to anyone," the man in question assured Daitaro. "The fate of the village may hinge on your very words."

"I-I won't tell either," Kayo added haltingly, unsure as to why Daitaro was taking the issue so seriously. It seemed so improbable that there could be some scandal of such a scale around here. She had been born in this village, and had always remembered it fondly. Her childhood had been a happy one. Though her family had worked hard, they had been content, and the other villagers had always been kind to them. Really, it was such a boring place; just an ordinary rural village. What kind of dark secret could a place like this possibly have…?

Daitaro considered this for a moment, then gave a slight nod, seemingly convinced of their integrity. "Alright. I've shouldered the burden of this secret alone long enough. The events in the scroll took place long ago, in the time of my grandparents…

* * *

_The great drought ravaged the entire han, rendering the fields barren, empty except for a thick black dust that lay upon the land like a pestilence. Hunger ravaged the bellies of the people, forever clawing at their guts with dull claws, eating them from within until they finally languished and died. The old and infirm were the first to succumb. Few children survived to adulthood. Those who could still compel their limbs to move tended the fields in vain; the rains didn't come, and more people starved. What meagre food resources there were had to be stretched to the limit. The birth of a babe, which might have once been a cause for rejoicing, was now only met with despair. Families could barely feed themselves, let alone any new additions. _

_And so, sacrifices had to be made._

_Where boys were concerned, the village policies were lenient. A man might someday leave the village to bring wealth back to his family from more prosperous regions. In the case of newborn girls, however, this possibility was rather unlikely. What point was there in raising yet another child to linger pointlessly about the house in a hunger-induced stupour? It would be merely another set of eyes to stare longingly at the rice pot, another mouth to rob the bellies of the able-bodied workers of the family. Girls were seen as expendable._

_Even so, it was always kept hushed up. The woodsman would enter the house on the pretext of bringing more logs with which to heat the near-empty cooking pot. He would leave with a small, innocuous bundle in his arms, wrapped in an old blanket, or perhaps the sash of an old kimono. A mother's final parting gift, perhaps stained with bitter tears. Many would have run out after the woodsman, if their husbands and brothers did not restrain them. The tiny bundles would be left in the shadow of a designated tree on the outskirts of town. This was long before the great road was built; this already secluded area was made forbidden to all, with the penalty for trespassing being five hundred lashes with a cut bamboo stave. Here, far from where any ears could possibly hear the plaintive cries of weakening infants, they would slowly wait for death to come. If they were lucky, the chill of night and the prolonged exposure without food or drink would eventually take them peacefully. If they were particularly unfortunate, the large grey wolves that lived in the forest, as ravenous as the people themselves were, would find and feast upon these small offerings. The woodsman would return after fourteen days to bury what remains there were, and return the wrappings to the family; whether the blankets were spattered with blood or not indicated the sort of death the infant had met._

_Eventually, the rains came once more, and the drought lifted. The people of the village recovered, and soon came to revile what they had done. Haunted by the guilt of having so callously discarded so many short lives, they built shrines, begging Inari to prevent such a drought from ever happening again. A large branch from the very tree itself was hacked away and used to carve an image of the god, as an offering to the children's dead spirits. Every year after this, the seasonal rains came as expected, and it seemed that the balance between people and kami had been restored. The despicable acts of the past were forgotten. The children born after the drought broke would obediently go to leave offerings at the shrines, all the while oblivious as to just how lucky they actually were, simply to be alive._

* * *

Kayo looked at Daitaro in horror from between her fingers, her head in her hands. "How could they…?" she murmured weakly, her voice split by emotion.

Daitaro looked at her mournfully. "Please don't be too harsh on our ancestors. Remember, these were desperate times; there was no rain for almost seven months. The townspeople not only had to feed themselves; they had to pay taxes to their daimyo as well. When they could not do so, they were effectively cut out of the _han_, left to rot alone and unaided. They had to take matters into their own hands."

Kayo choked back a small sob. "What a terrible thing for a mother to have to do… I wish… that I still didn't know…"

The medicine seller said nothing. He looked as though he was deep in thought, though his brow was furrowed slightly, in what might have been a disapproving expression.

As though the stench of spilt blood and rotting flesh had just wafted past his nostrils.

"Luckily, my grandmother was born after the drought broke," Daitaro continued. "I doubt either she or my grandfather ever really knew what had taken place under that hollow old maple tree in the years before they were born. Their parents had taken a sworn oath to never speak of it to the next generation; such a dismal tale would have been lost from memory, save as a parent's idle threat. The incident was only put down in writing by that era's village head, as a cautionary tale to future inhabitants of this region. Tatsuya-san would've gladly destroyed that scroll, pretending none of it ever happened; and he may have been right in doing so. For you see, don't you, how dangerous this knowledge would be? There was no official decree from the shogunate to allow so many baby girls to be sacrificed. Only samurai of the noble classes are allowed to take human lives without permission; the only people who live here are peasants. Such barbaric actions would be view as a crime of the utmost severity; a direct challenge to the government's authority. Whole families would be punished, if they were identified as having once discarded a child… if any of it came to light, the entire _han_ would be affected… the current generation would be penalized for crimes their ancestors committed…"

They sat in silence for several long moments, each lost in their own thoughts, reeling in the shock of what they had learned.

At last, Kayo quietly asked: "B-but what could any of that possibly have to do with this…or with me…?" She looked at the sword in the medicine seller's lap. It looked back without stirring. It detected no Kotowari.

"It _couldn't_ have anything to do with you," Daitaro declared, with a sharp-edged insistence in his voice. "It all happened before my own parents were born; there is no way it could relate back to Kayo-chan…" He looked to the medicine seller for confirmation.

After a prolonged pause, the medicine seller stirred, as though from a trance. "We'll see," he said evenly, looking back impassively at Daitaro and Kayo's expectant faces. "Some of the truth is still missing. Since Kayo is indeed the Makoto, there must be some other element that we don't know – something that is still locked in her past…"

"But there isn't anything," Kayo repeated with an exasperated sigh. "I can't think what I could've done. I've remembered back as far as I can-"

"-and so we must go back further," the medicine seller interposed. "The incident we seek may be something that has happened to you that you yourself can't remember, beyond the reaches of your recollection. You may have been present at this cataclysm, but were merely too young at the time to recall it in later years."

The others started at this revelation; such a possibility hadn't occurred to them. "B-but if that's true, isn't it all hopeless?" Kayo asked dejectedly, her voice containing a petulant ring. "If I can't remember whatever it is, then we'll never know…" She shuddered, remembering how close they had come to all being killed in the Sakai household when the old master had withheld information. She didn't want to be responsible for all these deaths; and yet there was nothing she could do…

"Then we'll just have to aid your memory."

Daitaro glanced sharply at the medicine seller. "But how…?"

The medicine seller actually chuckled. "It couldn't be simpler. I am, after all, a medicine seller. Certain drugs are very effective at restoring forgotten memories." He reached into his sleeve and drew out a packet, carefully wrapped in an oilskin and bound with string. "Just as well I took this from my medicine cabinet. I thought we might need it." With precise fingers he opened the packet, revealing what looked like finely-ground tea leaves.

"Just how does this medicine work?" Kayo asked nervously. She had seen some of the medicine seller's strange wares before, and she was slightly worried.

"That is very simple as well; one simply inhales the vapour from the burning concoction. It only exhibits its medicinal qualities when it is taken via respiratory means."

Daitaro leaned over the packet intently. "Is that… unprocessed _opium_?!"

The medicine seller's smile widened slightly, revealing the point of an elongated canine tooth. "Indeed. This is the dried and crushed seed pods of the poppy flower, obtained from narcotic-dealers in India."

Kayo recoiled. "I-isn't that… illegal?" she asked tremulously. _Did they really expect her to take illegal drugs?!_

"Indeed, and it was very difficult and expensive for me to acquire. Nevertheless, I will give this to Kayo-san in order to determine the Kotowari, but in return, a high-value price must be paid."

"And what is that? Whatever it is, I'll help Kayo-chan to repay you." Kayo stared at Daitaro. A few minutes ago, he had been blaming Kayo and the medicine seller for his son's death; now he was genuinely trying to help them…

"You will indeed, Daitaro-san. The price to be paid for this medicine is… _your lives_."

He no longer looked amused, though after a moment, a hint of his usual enigmatic smile showed on his lips. 'You needn't look so serious. I'm trading in my own life as well. If the Kotowari remains unknown, the _mononoke_ will remain uncontrollable, and eventually it will succeed in its purpose, which may very well be to destroy us all. The key to finding the Kotowari most likely lies in what Kayo-san can tell us. Hence, Daitaro's life, and mine, are both as much Kayo-san's responsibility as her own is. In exchange for prolonging all our lives, I am giving this medicine to Kayo-san, free of charge."

Daitaro stared blankly at the medicine seller; then he gave a small, reluctant nod, as though he didn't want to agree, but had no choice. Both of them turned to look at Kayo. She took a deep breath, feeling an uneasy lump rising in her throat. She knew it was true; the lives of all of them depended upon her. If taking illegal medicine was what it took to save them all…

"I understand. I'll do my best. What do I have to do?"

The medicine seller reached back into his sleeve, this time revealing a rather handsome pipe, with a long, elegant stem made from silver and tiny purple stones adorning its slick dark wood. The medicine seller took a delicate pinch of the drug, carefully placing it in the pipe-bowl. He then reached into the brazier with one slender white hand and pulled out a still-burning coal, which he held to the powder, not seeming to feel any ill-effects from the heat of it against his bare skin. After a few moments, the pipe's contents began to smoulder and glow; a wisp of smoke uncurled itself from the bowl. As it wafted over them, Daitaro and Kayo detected a sickly-sweet, musky smell, which made them both feel slightly dizzy.

"Will this really work?" Kayo asked dubiously.

"It should. Opium is a great stimulate of subconscious thought; taking it should reveal things that has imprinted themselves upon your mind, though you consciously have no knowledge of their existence. Besides, this is the only chance we have left."

The medicine seller offered the pipe to Kayo. She took it gingerly. "I-I've never smoked-"

"You don't need to. Just hold the bowl close to your face, and breathe it in."

Shutting out as much of her persisting fears as she could – _wasn't opium trading punishable by death?_ – Kayo obediently raised the pipe before her, and breathed deeply. The overly-sweet smell was actually quite pleasant, she admitted to herself with an encroaching sense of guilt.

"Now, look here."

The medicine seller's voice seemed to echo across to her from a great distance away, though he sat directly opposite her. She obediently raised her eyes. The entire shrine was still dark, yet now mystic patterns seemed to swirl in the darkness, constantly changing as she tried to make sense of their forms. It was as though the smoke had weaved its way inside her head, invading her senses and filling up her vision. Through the haze, the brilliant colours in the medicine seller's robe seemed to glow like blue and gold embers. She saw him turn over the pendant he wore on a chain around his neck. On its back was a small round mirror, as polished and bright as a full moon shining through thin cloud.

"What do you see?"

The medicine seller's voice was low and slow; hypnotic. As though summoned by his words, a scene took the place of Kayo's own indistinct reflection in the glass. An image began to form, like mist condescending on the mirror's surface. Rivulets of moisture ran down it, and jagged shapes lapped at its edges, brilliant as tongues of fire.

"I see… water droplets, falling… and red leaves…_ maple leaves_…" Her voice sounded like that of a sleepwalker, only half-aware of what she was actually saying.

"Good. What else?"

Through a grey haze of falling rain, Kayo could see a sort of humped shape… it looked vaguely like a person, though she couldn't tell who it was. She squinted, trying to look more closely, but instead the image started to fade. _The opium_, she realized. _I need to take more of the opium…_ She raised the pipe before her again, welcoming the exotic fragrance, letting it enter her head even further…

Before she could inhale, she heard someone near her sharply take in their own breath.

"The branch-!" she thought she heard Daitaro say beside her, though to her it sounded as though he spoke from underwater. "The branch from the tree… after the drought, they cut off a branch, and turned it into a shrine statue as an offering; that statue must be-"

The was a scrabbling sound, like a sharp-toed rodent dashing over the stone floor; then something hard hit Kayo's side, making her gasp in surprise. A coil of wood tightened around her waist, pulling her abruptly upwards. The pipe slipped from her grasp; she heard it strike the floor, its stem snapping and scattering ash everywhere. Then she was jerked upwards and pulled violently backwards; she screamed, and as the cold night air hit her lungs, her head cleared. She could see the black emptiness of the night sky above her through the hole in the roof; then she descended sharply, the vine around her waist going slack as she dropped. It still supported her; her descent eased, and she realized she was near the front of the vestibule, held aloft by the vine like a limp kitten being held by the scruff of its neck. She was now quite close to the statue of Inari, level with its face. Kayo felt a cold weight sliver down inside her as she saw that the vine that held her ended at the statue's carved wooden arm. The statue itself still stared past her, looking straight towards the temple door. Then the air was split was a dry-sounding _kreeeeak…_

The statue turned its impassive face towards Kayo. Then its eyes opened, as though the pupil-less carvings in its face were merely wooden eyelids; this revealed two round, impossibly dark knot-holes which peered intently at Kayo. The lichen-covered creases of its face turned suddenly mobile, and it smiled.

It wasn't a friendly smile. It was a triumphant leer, its mouth full of jagged, sinister-looking splinters.

* * *

_Author's Note: The whole opium-as-memory-restorer plot was taken directly from _The Ruby in the Smoke_ by Philip Pullman. I doubt such a thing would happen so conveniently in real life; needless to say, don't try this at home._

_We're getting to the real supernatural heart of this thing now!_

_Should there be a warning for the description of children's deaths? My apologies._

_Thank you for reading, and Happy Halloween! ~ W.J._

* * *

_*Lyrics are from Animal Song, by Savage Garden*_


	12. Chapter 11: Living Statues

**Chapter 11 – Living Statues**

Kayo struggled vainly against the thick bands of wood curled around her waist. She could keenly feel them, even through the thick layers of her kimono and sash, pressing into her flesh. It was futile to try to free herself, even as the creature's grip continued to tighten around her ribcage, making breathing difficult. She saw the statue raise its other hand, each of its fingers swiftly growing from twigs into branches as thick as her fist, each tipped with a sinister point. It brought these "claws" back near its waist, levelling them like a blade; then the five sharp points thrust forward –

Kayo clamped her streaming eyes shut and used her last laboured breath to let out a piercing scream –

The tips of wood stopped a hair's breadth away from sinking into the front of her robe. The creature actually recoiled, emitting an utterance which may have been a gasp of surprise. In an instant, the sound changed to an inhuman shriek, and the _jubokko_ abruptly dropped her. As it flailed in pain, one of its vines whisked past her field of vision; it was bleeding copiously and its tip was ragged, as though it had been bitten off by a set of sharp teeth. She expected to hit the hard stone floor far below, but what she landed on felt remarkably soft in comparison. Strong arms whisked her away from the _jubokko_'s reach before she was finally deposited – quite gently – on the floor.

She realized she was back inside the circles of ash and scales. The medicine seller, having caught her when the _jubokko_ had dropped her, was already hovering nearby with his sword raised, interposed between her and the creature. It had recovered somewhat, and seemed to be glaring at them with its empty knot-hole eyes.

"Are you alright?" Daitaro asked frantically, scrambling over to her.

"…I…think I am…" Kayo answered to her own surprise. She stared blankly down at the front of her kimono, where the _jubokko_ had been about to strike. There was the merest rip there in the cloth. The tear that Daisuke had made and which had subsequently been repaired was now partially reopened. A single one of the medicine seller's neat stitches had been broken. Something was peeping out from the rent in the cloth… she could only see the very edge of it, which was white. Gradually, she realized just what it was…

When the medicine seller had fixed the collar of her kimono, he had sewn a paper seal into the cloth.

The man himself was poised at the circle's edge, his gaze apparently fixed on the _jubokko_, watching for any vines that might try to sneak towards them. The creature hung back, remaining upon the altar like some grotesque parody of the godlike image it had once depicted, still seemingly wary of the ring of salt. Kayo was watching the medicine seller's back intently, when something fluttered through her gaze. She looked down with a premature sense of foreboding. A single red maple leaf lay on the ground. It had fallen directly on top of the salt; where it landed, the salt itself turned black before her eyes, and both it and the leaf crumbled into nothing more than a thin layer of dust on the stone, leaving a break in the circular line.

Fearing the worst, Kayo looked up. The darkness of the hole in the roof above her crackled audibly. Another jagged red leaf fluttered down, then another, until they fell like red snowflakes all around her. Kayo's cry alerted the medicine seller; he turned, and could do naught but watch as the circle of salt disintegrated around them, buried under the falling leaves. As it vanished, the ring of scales also collapsed on itself, toppling over with a clatter. The creature seemed to writhe in spasmodic joy; its wooden tentacles dripped over the edge of the altar and snaked steadily across the floor towards them. The medicine seller held out an empty hand; the whole room shook, and the vines halted. The medicine seller had his feet firmly planted, and his whole frame shuddered slightly, as though he were trying to hold back a massive weight. Again the temple rocked on its foundations; the medicine seller's bare feet slid back a few _shaku_ over the stone.

"Hurry, draw the sword!" Daitaro yelled in a tremulous voice. "It's the only weapon we've got! Can't it be of any use?"

Kayo knew the answer before the medicine seller spoke; her heart felt as heavy and leaden as his voice sounded as he replied from between gritted teeth. "It's no good. My knowledge is not complete. The demon-slaying sword does not slash wantonly; it will only release its blade when all the parameters are met. The Kotowari is still unknown. Without it, my powers are limited; so long as mortal hands wield the sword, it is doomed to fail." The sword hung limply from his hand; the other was still outstretched, struggling to hold the _jubokko_ back. As the monster advanced, he was pushed back again; this time, he slid more than one full _sun_ towards her, leaving scratches where his toes had dug into the stone in an effort to remain stationary.

Kayo felt a shiver run through her as her memory stirred; she had seen this scene played out before, in the Sakai household, on the steps to the hidden apartment. Just like that time, as she watched, the medicine seller slowly began to slump to the ground; he gasped for breath, leaning heavily on his arm. The ground shuddered yet again; his hand tensed, pushing down on the stone. His fingers became like claws as his nails sank into the floor. A thin rivulet of red ran from between his fingers. Still, it was no good; a few _sun_ in front of him, the stone rippled like water. As though something were burrowing underneath.

Kayo tore her eyes away from the medicine seller in time to see the floor beside Daitaro bubble up, then burst open in a shower of broken tiles; a single wooden tentacle shot towards him. With a cry, she lunged forward, shoving the man down out of the way and throwing herself in its path instead. It all happened so quickly; she was acting purely on instinct, and yet in her mind, she was thinking about Daisuke, who had been lecherous perhaps, yet had always been an obedient and dutiful son to his father. Kayo still felt a strong twinge of guilt; if she hadn't run off, Daisuke may not have died on her account. The least she could do now was to save the older man, who though he was taciturn, had always been perfectly civil towards her, and who had loved his son far more than he had let on…

It was a moment of incredible clarity and purposefulness, such as she hadn't felt in many months…

Instead of stabbing straight through her like it had been going to do to Daitaro, the vine sensed that its target had changed, and it swerved in midair to avoid her. It instead coiled around her, and once again she felt herself lifted upward at an astonishing speed.

"Kayo-kun!" she heard Daitaro's hoarse shout beneath her. Another voice soon followed it:

"Kayo-san!"

It was an almost feral snarl, shot with desperation. She saw a whirl of blue far beneath her, before she was enveloped in a canopy of red leaves, hiding the interior of the temple from view.

_I'm sorry, Mr. Medicine Seller,_ Kayo thought as she was hoisted clear of the rustling branches and hauled away into the night. _I know you wanted to slay the mononoke, but that really doesn't matter to me. I just don't want anyone else to die because of me… not Daitaro-san, and not you either…_

She felt an incredible sense of calm and accomplishment as the _jubokko_ dragged her across the fields; they were fast approaching the tree line, and with a clatter of branches, it pulled her into the sinister shade of the forest.

* * *

"Kayo-kun!" Daitaro called again, looking vainly up at the hole in the ceiling for signs of her; even the maple leaves were now gone, leaving only the billowing plume of smoke left from the fire, and beyond it the cold, distant lights of the stars in the sky.

Daitaro's usually calm heart thundered somewhere near his throat. Despite himself, tears burned in his eyes. He remembered the dear little girl playing in the village square, squealing as Daisuke kicked dirt at her, his own voice raised to reprimand his unruly son whilst Kayo looked on with indignation…

_He had already lost his own child tonight. He had hoped to at least save another…_

He looked around the shrine, and found it to be empty save for himself. There was no other living soul in view.

"Mr. Medicine Seller…?" he asked uncertainly, but there was no reply.

On the altar, the wooden statue of Inari was missing a large chunk out of its chest, as though an animal that had been using it as a burrow had now vacated it, leaving a hollow in its wake. On either side of it, the stone foxes stared back at Daitaro. Each one had jaws which were stained red, gleaming stickily in the faint light of the brazier; splinters were stuck to their stone teeth, adhering to the still-moist blood. They stood as motionless and immovable as ever.

To a distraught Daitaro, they were poor companions.

* * *

Kayo clung to the wooden vine despite herself. It was strangely warm under her hands, pulsing gently as it moved, and its surface was as hard as ceramic, slightly rough where the grain of the wood showed through. She didn't have any room for revulsion; it was pulling her through the forest so fast, she latched onto it to steady herself. A stray branch slapped against the side of her head; the _jubokko_'s vine ducked lower, giving her room for clearance and avoiding the next branch with ease. She was sure it was carrying her faster than any horse could run (not that that a commoner like her had ever ridden a horse before). Horses had to weave between trees, whereas this creature was part of the forest itself. The speed she travelled at was fast enough for the cold night air to sting her eyes and send her hair billowing in her wake.

Something else fluttered out behind her; something long and thin. Surprised, she peered down at it. In the light of the moon, she glimpsed something crimson, and thick as a rope, though it was smoother and woven more neatly than any hemp could be worked into. The seamstress in her recognized an incredibly thick skein of thread…

The thread appeared to be contracting on itself, reeling something in like a fish on a line…

Something crashed through the branches behind her. It sounded large. Kayo twisted round, trying to see…

Like some large, clumsy bird, a figure flew out of the forest canopy, making straight for her. She saw the other end of the crimson thread clutched in a slender hand…

"Mr. Medici-"

That was as far as she got before he collided with her. The _jubokko_ was startled by the impact; they dipped drastically, hitting several branches before the vine recovered, now pulling them both along. A few more branches slapped at them, but the medicine seller shielded her from them with his sleeve. There was a red gash on his cheek where a stray twig had scratched him; the edge of his bandanna and his sleeves were torn in places. Kayo suspected that the _jubokko_ had dragged them through the branches on purpose, hoping to shake the medicine seller off; however, he had his sword tucked in his belt while one hand was clamped on the back of Kayo's sash, the other clutching the vine itself. He wasn't going anywhere.

"Mr. Medicine Seller… why…?" The words dried up in Kayo's throat. Surely the _jubokko_ was now snaring them in to devour them both. _If he had just stayed behind with Daitaro…_

"I told you before," he said quietly, calmly; almost as though he were merely chatting to her back at the food stall over a bowl of noodles. "An _ayakashi_ is a malevolent presence in this world. It cannot be allowed to remain. Whatever other outcomes there may be tonight, the _mononoke_ itself must be destroyed."

"Oh… is that all…" Even given the danger they were both in, she couldn't help but feel more than a little disappointed.

"And I couldn't just let Kayo-san perish, either."

That made her start and stare at him with surprise and appreciation. He looked back at her with red-painted features as expressionless as ever, but the red gash coursed steadily down his cheek, and his eyes were clear, devoid of any irony or humour. He seemed to really mean it.

The vine adjusted its path; they descended steeply, then broke free of the trees, coming out on the road to the fields. To her right, Kayo could see the old straw-thatched shelter, which meant that just ahead of them was-

"It's taking us in there?"

"That's right."

She could now see where the vine carrying them had originated from; it appeared to be an elongated root from the foot of the old maple tree.

"W-what will it do with us once we're in there…?"

"We shall soon find out."

He didn't sound too worried, so Kayo gulped, trying to be brave. The vine gathered itself, leaving them hanging for a moment, suspended in the air; then it dragged them swiftly down. There was a large hollow near the base of the trunk, where the large branch had been hacked away to be carved into the statue of Inari. As they swept downwards, the yawning hole grew steadily bigger, until they were pulled inside.

* * *

"Ouch!" Kayo muttered, wincing and rubbing her hip, which she had landed on yet again. They had been dumped unceremoniously on what felt like a packed-dirt floor. The moon was faintly visible through the hole they had entered, now some 10 _sun_ above Kayo's head. Though it was dark inside the tree, Kayo's eyes gradually adjusted, until she was able to make out her surroundings.

They were in a tall, round room of sorts. Though the actual maple tree was slender enough on the outside for three small children to encircle it with joined hands, on the inside, it looked large enough to easily accommodate thirty grown men. The walls inside were similarly patterned with a dark, mottled-brown wood grain, and every so often a root protruded inwards. Somewhere, Kayo could hear a dripping sound, as well as a distant scratching, as though branches were scraping against the outside of the trunk. To be inside a tree was a strange sensation indeed, Kayo thought to herself.

When the vine had let go of them, they had been left sprawled higgledy-piggledy after a short drop. The shock of the landing had left Kayo temporarily dazed, but now that she was more aware, she realized that the medicine seller had landed heavily on her legs, and he was making no effort to move.

"Hey, get off!" she grumbled, trying to shift out from under him. "You're heavy, you know!" When he made no reply and remained slumped over her, a sharp stab of panic shot through her for the first time. "Mr. Medicine Seller…? Are you alright?"

She reached out a hand to lightly nudge his shoulder. He swayed slightly on the spot, but remained otherwise motionless. Her hand came away sticky; some kind of thick, viscous goop clung to the cloth of his kimono. Shuffling around to get him in a better angle of moonlight, Kayo glimpsed him properly for the first time, and screamed out loud.

He was covered in some substance that resembled honey, and was a disturbing shade of reddish-brown. The stuff didn't just remain fluid; Kayo felt the daubs on her fingertips dry hard. When she dared to touch him again, she found that the rest of the goop had set rock-solid. A while ago, Kayo had seen a stall in an Edo marketplace which had sold unusual trinkets and curiosities. Along with hundreds of crumbly crystals in all the colours of spring flowers, and fangs from various beasts which had been carved with decorative inscriptions, there had been several orbs of a substance called 'amber'. It had been the rich colour of a sunset, yet as transparent as water, allowing her to see numerous insects encased in its depths. The stall owner had explained to her that these 'stones' were in fact made of tree sap, which had fallen on the unfortunate creatures and dried hard, entombing them inside. That was what the medicine seller had become – an insect trapped in amber.

With a frantic scramble, Kayo extracted herself from under his weight. When she looked up, she found the source of the dripping noise; a root over the medicine seller's head seemed to be bleeding, sending a steady trickle of liquid amber that gradual coursed over him. She grabbed at his shoulder, which had already set as hard and glossy as if he had been dipped in lacquer, trying to pull him out of the way of the cascade. However, it was futile; he seemed to be frozen on the spot. His sword was still in his hand, hanging down by his side, and his whole frame tilted forward, as though lurching towards her. She realized from the positions they had been in before that he had been shielding her, preventing her from becoming a living statue as well.

"Mr. Medicine Seller!"

She pounded at the amber with clenched fists, but already it had set like stone, too hard for her to break. He couldn't seem to hear her, and his eyes stared out blankly, his expression as impassive as ever. His lips were parted as though in surprise, and the usual intensity in his eyes had diminished.

"NOOOOOOO!"

The word escaped her as a sort of moan. Echoing round the inside of the tree, it took on the sound of a lament. _Not another one… not the medicine seller, not here and now_… _after all he had done for her…_

Something wooden wrapped itself around her arm, pulling her backwards. She strained against it, but another one curled around her other wrist, another round her ankle, forcing her away from him. Standing stock-still like a human semblance of a grave stone, he made no move to follow her.

She was all alone with the _mononoke_.

* * *

_Author's Note: Wow, last time I posted a chapter I was wishing everyone a happy Hallowe'en. Has it really been that long? My apologies - I've been busy with my own projects, and since this story is so involved, when I did write it down, I wanted to take the time to get all the details right._

_Also, sorry this chapter is slightly shorter than usual. As mentioned, the plot is very involved, especially now we are approaching the final chapters, and I want to get it right. Also, a lot happens in this chapter, and a lot will happen in the next chapter, so here seems like a good place to stop for the time being. Even though I know what happens next, I'm leaving myself in suspense!_

_Welcome inside the Tardis tree - bigger on the inside : )_

_Thank you so much for all the reviews! Until next time,_

_~ W.J._


	13. Chapter 12: to live

**Chapter 12 – "_-to live…_"**

Kayo abruptly stopped struggling as a sound came floating out of the darkness. It was so eerie, it set the hairs at the nape of her neck standing on end. She didn't even notice that the vines had released her and withered away into the ground at her feet, such did it arrest her attention. It sounded like human voices, and yet there was no way any humans, no matter how well-practised, could speak in perfect unison like that. Whatever the thing – or things – were, it sang with a voice made up of many, high and piping like the uppermost notes of a flute. It was lilting and musical, and as Kayo listened, it sang the following words:

_"When the fox yip-yips on the top of the hill,__  
The gods will send the rains to fall  
When the rice seeds dry on the window sill,  
The gods of death will come to call  
Mr. Fox, raise your voice up loud,  
Tell the crops to grow up green and tall  
When you see in the sky the dark rain cloud,  
You know there will be rice for all."_

Kayo listened, shuddering as she heard the familiar planting song being sung by that unearthly voice. So many times she had sung that song herself, or heard it sung by her mother, or her friend Momoka, or any of the other village girls…

She suddenly recalled old stories the village elders used to tell, of tree spirits, known as _kodama_, which made voices echo in the forest…

_This tree had once been a burial site for abandoned infants…_

Kayo swallowed hard and shuddered again as she realized that the tree was singing with the amassed voices of the dead baby girls.

Her senses swam for a moment, so she didn't notice them until they were quite close to her.

They were similar to the thing that had killed Daisuke in the temple corridor. They weren't the corpses of dead infants, for they were far too spindly and tall for that. Rather, they were the shadows of the girls they had never lived to become. They must have watched the village girls passing the tree on their way to and from the fields each day, for they appeared to have made themselves into some twisted parody of living women. They wore ratty kimonos made of interwoven leaves and twigs, whilst their bobbed hair writhed around their heads in a mass of jutting branches. They looked like skeletal trees; and really, that was all they were, with their knotted limbs all pocked with mildew, interlocking branches forming a sunken ribcage beneath the lapels of their kimonos. Their faces stared blankly at Kayo with empty knothole eyes, little more than wooden skulls. As Kayo stood, half-dazed and becoming increasingly resigned to her fate, they drew in very close to her.

"Are you the spirits of the sacrificed children?" she asked them, wondering if she could reason with them. They didn't reply as such, but as one they made a faint rustling noise, like the wind blowing through bare branches; perhaps they were exhaling between their splinter-like teeth. They made no effort to speak or even continue their song; instead they gathered around Kayo and clasped their pointed, twig-tipped hands around her. Kayo flinched, but otherwise stood still, feeling strangely unemotional. After all that had happened that night – all those deaths, and even the medicine seller gone – she couldn't seem to muster any more fear.

Still they drew in closer, clinging to her somewhat beseechingly, almost tenderly. Rather than being repulsed, she strangely felt almost protective of them, and infinitely sorry for them.

These poor babies, who had never seen anything of life. Though they had been born here, they had never even lived long enough to walk the paths through the village as she had so often done, listening to the steady humdrum of everyday sounds within the walls of huts, shutters closing and ladles clanking against earthen pots, as families prepared for the coming of evening. They had never been able to appreciate the sight of the endless blue sky stretching over the fields, the chill tingle of the forest's shade on hot summer skin, or the scent of sunlight warming the wet earth after the rain…

Whereas she had had almost twenty years to experience all that, and to even take in all the sights of Edo as well, to tread the roads of the capital independently, whilst these poor souls had never even left the foot of the tree, dying alone not a league from their own homes…

Truly, nothing could be more pathetic.

They seemed to writhe about her like a nest of snakes, moving faster than she would've expected, given their frail appearance. They were stronger as well; they interlocked their arms and pressed in on her, and rather than snapping like it appeared it would, the brittle wood held firm. As they embraced her yet more tightly, she realized that they meant to smother her, perhaps even crush the life out of her. Their hold was so tight, she could feel the knot of her sash pressing into her back like a dull blade. Just like when the statue in the vestibule had grabbed her, they were forcing the air out of her lungs. She tried to take another breath to refill them, but her chest had no space to expand; instead of the great gasp she had intended to take, she only managed a few shallow pants which did little to draw in the much-needed air.

"W-what…do you… want…?" she managed to splutter in a half-choked voice, expending precious breath on these few syllables. If they meant to have her life, she would like to at least know why; after all she had been through, she wanted to at last know that all-important Kotowari…

She thought that they would not answer, as their slender hands wreathed themselves around her throat, the rough bark imprinting itself on her skin. They were steadily suffocating her; and yet, she could sense no malice in their demeanour, no hint of anger or hatred in their crudely-carved faces. As they slowly, gently throttled the life out of her, their hold was akin to a parent's loving embrace… firm, protective, possessive, and somehow almost loving, as they cradled her limp body between them, weaving a tight blanket of branches around her.

She finally heard them answer, as even the heavy pounding in her temples started to fade and her sight blurred. Their whispery collective voice seemed to come from far away, though they could fain get any closer to her.

_"Live… we want… to live…"_

It was a sad sound, like light rain splattering against new leaves, and was barely louder than the softest whisper.

_'To live',_ Kayo thought weakly. _Of course they want to live… poor things, they've never even barely lived… that must be it… to attain their own lives, they're trying to press my life out of me, since I have seen so much and even been to Edo… I'm a girl just like them, so they think they can take my life for themselves…_

She wondered vaguely if that could be done: if life could be taken from one person by another, like a petty thief knifing a man for his wallet and spending his money thereafter. After all, life wasn't something that could be bought or bartered, was it? Life was so many things: it was time spent in various places, and things seen and felt, experienced through all the senses. It encompassed memories and emotions from all those fragmented days, stitched together to form one whole consciousness.

Hers was a reminiscence that stretched right back through her life like a banner, a patchwork of scrap experiences as unique as Kayo was herself. For a moment, she saw that banner before her eyes, taking in every individual stitch, every tiny thread. She marvelled at all there was contained in that single, relatively short life; she wondered faintly at the length of what Tatsuya and Harada must have seen before they died, since they had lived so much longer than her. She saw so many moments, both great and terrible – times of fear, joy, sadness, frustration, euphoria, hatred and friendship – all strung together in a single line, one stitch after another, holding her entire life together. As she looked at it, realizing just how much _life_ she had crammed into those few short years – living happily with her mother and grandmother, seeking her fortune in Edo, slaying mononoke – and as she looked, she was overwhelmed by an incredible sense of pride and contentment at all she saw. She never realized just how much she had had until she saw it all put in perspective like that, seen through the magnification of a single, dying moment. All those things she had seen and done, all the people she had met: the friendships she had created with Daisuke-kun, Daitaro-san, and Momoka-chan and Risa-chan, stuffy old Odajima-sama, even Genyousai-san and the others from the ship. And, of course, Mr. Medicine Seller.

It wasn't a perfect life; some of the stitches were lopsided, the material stained or worn threadbare in places. Nevertheless, she didn't regret a single moment; she wouldn't undo a single stitch, if she had the choice.

She felt an incredible sense of peace; but at the same time, an incredible sense of longing swept over her, like ocean waves sweeping over smooth sand. How disappointing, that such a life should have to end now; how much more she wished to do… she hadn't had success in Edo, it was true, but how she wished she could have tried again, and yet again and again if need be, until she found another placement somewhere; how she wished she could walk through the village one last time, and say a proper farewell to the place where she had been born, where everything had started from, and where she was now ending her brief, though remarkable journey through all life had offered her. How she wished she could tease Odajima-sama one last time, or hear one more of Genyousai-san's stories. She wished she could tell Daitaro-san that she was sorry, and not to fret over her, to save his grief for his son and consider her own demise as some form of karmic repentance. She wanted to give the medicine seller one last thanks, and to apologize for not being able to slay this last mononoke.

Yes she had regret, but not for all that she had done; her regret was for all that she could still do, if only she could…

_Live… I really want… to live…_

_Just like you, Jubokko… I want to live, too…_

* * *

_Ching!_

Kayo's senses had all but left her, but still that single sound pierced her fleeing consciousness; it was a sound she recognized, yet sounded so unlikely and otherworldly that for an instant she could not fathom what it was. Something dangled from her wrist, which hung lifelessly, drained of any strength, by her side. It was free from the jubokko's grasp, and so she slowly raised her arm, trying to see what it was. It took an almost impossible effort to do even this simple act; the bracelet seemed far heavier than any mere length of string and piece of metal could possibly be. Yet she managed it, and as she moved, the tiny bell made yet another clear, sweet ring, which seemed to echo right round the inside of the tree, resonating in the depths of Kayo's soul.

Something poked out of the slit-like opening in the bell; something which had been inside it, but now escaped, freeing the tiny clapper, letting it ring out clearly. Kayo saw it as little more than a bleary shape through her dwindling sight; nevertheless, it was a piece of paper that flitted out of the miniscule space inside the bell's metal sphere, unfolding in mid-air. It wasn't white, like a normal scrap of parchment; it was a brilliant gold and shimmered dazzlingly, red markings glowing on its surface. It hovered for a moment, penetrating the tree's murky interior with its brightness; then, it levelled itself with its edges out flat, and shot across the space like an arrow.

It struck the amber which encased the medicine seller, imbedding itself deep in his stony prison. For a moment, all was still; then a loud '_crack_' split the air, and the amber shattered in every direction, raining shards of solidified sap everywhere.

As though nothing at all had happen in the interim from when he had entered the tree up until this very moment, the medicine seller calmly raised the demon-slaying sword, and made a slashing motion at the interlocked branches which half-hid Kayo's fainting form. The wood parted before the tip of the sheath; the jubokko screeched like an angry bird of prey and leapt back, snarling viciously. It had condensed itself to a single writhing, woody creature, like a gigantic bird's nest given demonic possession. As it retreated, the medicine seller raised his other hand, which was full of paper seals, all of them glistening and golden like the one from Kayo's bell. He threw them, and they hurtled through the air, swooping around like a flock of shimmering sparrows. Just as quickly, the medicine seller flew to Kayo's side; numerous neat rows of paper encircled them completely, forming a protective wall around them.

* * *

"Kayo-san…?"

At the sound of his voice, her eyes, which had been closed, reopened as the merest of slits; this seemed to use up all the energy she had left, and she slumped against him. With an ease born of his long profession, he reached for her wrist and clasped it, just above where the bracelet hung from it, making the bell peal again. Once the vibrations of the sound had died away, he managed to find it; the faintest flutter of a pulse beating within her veins, keeping her alive.

"Kayo-san, if we are to have any hope of leaving this place alive, we must finish what was started. We must learn the Kotowari." He gently laid her down on the packed dirt floor and reached inside his robe, extricating an oilskin parcel; it was what remained of his supply of opium. He emptied the parcel into his hand.

"For every mononoke, there is a reason. It is usually terrible, seldom logical – but reason is still reason, even when it appears nonsensical to the human eye. The spirits of the dead girls sacrificed beneath this tree have some grievance against you, though you yourself are ignorant of their reason for this. However, to understand this mononoke fully, and to slay it, everything must become known. You must take this medicine; the reason lies in you alone." As he spoke, he snapped his fingers. A spark emitted from the flint ring. The pipe had shattered on the stone floor of the temple, rendering it useless; however, the drug in his bare hand began to smoulder, then continued to smoke steadily. He showed no sign of pain, though the flame must have seared his bare flesh.

"Kayo-san, please, take it…"

He wafted the fragrant smoke under her nostrils. She didn't so much as stir. The smoke billowed around her, then broke into ashy clouds, dispersing ineffectively into the musty air.

With a jolt, he realized that she didn't appear to be breathing.

His manner took on a sudden sense of urgency. He continued to hold his smoking palm close to her face, but still there was no reaction.

"Kayo-!"

The opium was swiftly dwindling; in a moment it would be nothing but a paltry handful of spent ash. It seemed it would be burned up without Kayo ever managing to breathe in any of it. She lay on the brink between life and death; her lungs had seemingly closed, encasing the secret of the mononoke's Kotowari inside of them forever.

He had no other choice.

He brought the very last wisp of smoke before his own face and inhaled deeply, for longer than seemed humanly possible. The tendrils of smoke curled in through his senses, already starting to cloud his mind. Before it could be assimilated into himself, he drew Kayo close to him and, being careful to fully cover her small, slack mouth with his own, he exhaled directly between her lips in a single strong, steady breath.

He held her against himself in an embrace almost as tight as the mononoke's had been, applying pressure to her chest so that her diaphragm would contract on its own, prompting her to inhale. He felt it when her chest expanded against his, then fell and rose again in a shallow breath of her own. He let the useless ash from the opium sift through his fingers, instead clasping her around the waist to keep her close and facing him, their foreheads nearly pressed together. Her eyes were still closed, but it didn't matter. It was inwards that they had to look.

With one hand, he reached for the pendant around his neck. He turned it over and touched the mirrored surface to her forehead.

"Remember…" he whispered in his low, mysterious voice, his utterance given an added, echoing cadence by the opium's effects. The word itself seemed to waver in the air, as though it too were made of the hazy fog that had opened up around them. He pressed his own forehead to the other side of the pendant, forging a link between their minds.

The fog opened up and enveloped them both, pulling them away from reality, letting them float towards a place less corporeal. A place of memory.

Together, they watched the past unfold before them.

* * *

_Author's Note: Christ, has it really been seven months since my last update? _

_I'm sorry. I feel mean, even though I didn't do it intentionally. I've been wanting to update it for ages - I had the first draft ready for months. I've just been really, incredibly busy lately. No wonder I started getting reviews asking if I was ever going to finish this._

_To all those people who keep asking for Kayo/Kusuriuri relations in this story, I hope you're satisfied with this chapter._

_Also, I made a mistake way back in the first chapter. Jizo statues are Buddhist, whereas kitsune are Shinto. Meaning it's highly unlikely that they'd both be on the same roadside shrine. Sorry!_

_We're getting so close to the end now - I'd say three, maybe four more chapters. I can't make any promises about when the next update will be - but I can promise it will come. Eventually. Please continue to be patient._

_Happy New Year!_


	14. Chapter 13: Sacrifice

**Chapter 13 - Sacrifice**

_Actions are not eternal. Once they have been performed, they rely on memory to retain their potence. When memories are left neglected, they fade from consciousness and slip away into nothingness, as though they never were. However, to suppress a memory is to deny that the event itself ever took place. Things that are done cannot be undone. Effects that have sprung forth in a moment will reverberate for the rest of time. _

_A fleeting trace of the past always remains; and so, an ayakashi might find it, latching onto fragments which have long been left abandoned. Ayakashi have superior powers of recollection. Because they have no physical existence, all events, past and present, remain real to them. _

_Where human error and spiritual discord converge, the mononoke are conceived. Such creatures will seize control of discarded memories, for the sake of their own gains. They will attempt to influence those humans whom the memories evoke, manipulating the future through their grasp on the past._

_Try though they might, however, experience cannot belong to more than any one being at a time. _

_Human recollection is an inaccurate tool, twisting events to favourably suit its own preferance. Even the most concrete of facts carries a certain amount of ambiguity. This is an unavoidable anomaly. Human nature is always concerned with itself first and foremost. Man's selfishness becomes individuality, an aspect which cannot be emulated by any other being, alive or otherwise. We see all what is around us as in a mirror, reflected in ourselves. _

_We each carry our own singular history._

_As these memories of the past awaken around you, Kayo-san, you must take control of your own history. _

_And so, let me ask you…_

_What memories did the ayakashi steal, in order to manifest in this form?_

_What events made you the true focus of the jubokko's enmity?_

_What regrets still remain hidden in your past?_

_These revelations are a part of you which became disconnected, distanced by time, seen through a distorted glass. Allow this part of yourself to be reunited with the rest. Remember a part of yourself that was very nearly forgotten, lost to the mononoke's grasp._

_Please, I humbly request…_

_that you show us both what occurred that time… _

_… beneath the old maple tree._

* * *

They were once again standing on the road that led through the forest.

There was the straw-thatched shelter, and the old maple tree beside it, just as always. It felt so familiar to Kayo; and yet, there was a tiny note of discord about it, something that seemed slightly alien, a difference too miniscule for her to clearly define. Somehow, it almost didn't seem quite real. It was as though the whole thing were a painted _kabuki_ backdrop, based on real life, but somehow stylized. When Kayo tried to turn her head to look in the direction of the fields, the trees that lined the road dissolved into a swirling grey mist which seemed to press itself against her eyes; it was like trying to look at the inside of her own head. The sensation was disconcerting, and she turned away quickly. A heavy shower of rain fell all around her, but she didn't feel wet, and when she extended her hand, the droplets passed right through it. Or perhaps it was her hand that passed through the rain. She wasn't sure which was more solid, herself or the scenery.

This view before her was true to life, right down to the last red leaf pressed into the mud, the last strand of straw in the hut's thatch. But it wasn't real. This place was a place in memory, not the real thing. That was why Kayo was like a ghost here. This was the past; the present did not yet exist. She was an impartial witness, just as she had been back at her old house, as she had watched Tamaki's abuse unfold before her eyes.

This vista before her was far more pleasant to look at than that debauchery had been. The scenario had all the tranquil atmosphere of those painted scrolls that people loved to hang on feature walls. And yet, it retained all the imperfections of real life. The mud splashed up where the rain pounded it, like blots of ink tumbling from an unclean brush. The fallen maple leaves were flattened against the ground, dying flashes of scarlet that gradually melted into a brown, muddy soup. Only beneath the roof of the hut did the scene retain its idealized look. Though the driving rain should have screened it from view, Kayo could see inside it as clear as day; as if she herself stood within those threadbare walls.

A woman was sitting on a low bench, weaving lengths of dry hemp into rope. Though her dark hair was flecked with thick bolts of silver, her thin brown fingers moved with a dexterity that belied her age. Kayo remembered those same fingers performing many other tasks with just as much proficiency – deftly threading the slit-like eye of a needle; pointing to show her how to properly set a stitch; stirring a pot of rice porridge over the hearth; combing Kayo's own hair with a rigorous, yet gentle touch. Kayo recognized the woman as her own grandmother - and yet, she looked different to how Kayo remembered her, from the last time that she had seen her alive. So long as Kayo had known her, her hair had been completely grey; and her face now looked as though some of the wrinkles in it had been flattened out, with only a touch of extra softness around her eyes and the corners of her mouth.

Every so often, the lady glanced at the basket on the seat beside her. Every time she did, the lines on her face deepened as she smiled affectionately. Once, she actually stopped her work to gently tousle a sparse head of dark hair that peeped over the basket's rim. Kayo unconsciously raised a hand to her own hair. Thanks to Daisuke, her hair was now far shorter than it had been at the start of the evening; but she still had far more locks than the baby in the basket did. Yet it was the exact same head of hair.

Kayo was looking at herself as an infant.

Usually, when she saw other women with their babies, she would alternately coo over their inherited cuteness, or sigh at the unfortunate plainness their parents had passed on to them. She was additionally judgemental of her own looks; so it was strange that she should regard the babe in the rustic crib so dispassionately. The tiny face was the right shape to someday fit her own, she supposed; the dimpled cheeks would stay with her into adulthood, and already the prominent pout of the lips was evident. It was a surreal sight to behold; rather like a tree of tremendous height looking down at a tiny seed and wondering how the colossal feat that had manifested its current stature had ever come to pass. Kayo, as she was now, was hardly a lumbering giant; yet, though she saw shades of herself in that miniature version – she had consulted the looking glass enough times to readily recognize them – it was still hard to believe that she had ever been so small. So soft and susceptible.

_So vulnerable._

She could sense it; the significance of this vision was so palpable, it seemed to drench the air. And yet, there was no obvious menace anywhere to be seen.

But there _had_ to be. There must be a reason why the fumes of the opium had brought her back to this particular time.

_There _had_ to be a kotowari here somewhere…_

Kayo watched with bated breath, the suspense causing her heart to patter in time with the falling raindrops, as she waited…

_Waited for _something _to happen…_

The scene before her seemed to thwart her expectations; nothing at all seemed to change. The rain fell, the old woman spun, the baby slept. The wind and rain whistled through the straw walls of the hut and rattled in the branches of the maple tree. The sound was a low, soothing _whoosh_… a gentle, lulling sound…

The old lady must have thought so, for her fingers gradually slowed; her head drooped lower and lower, until at last her hands dropped into her lap and remained motionless. Her half-woven ball of twine rolled out of the folds of her kimono, landing in the dust by her feet; but she didn't notice. She was sound asleep.

Otherwise, everything continued as it had. The rain fell. Old woman and young infant slept. The straw quivered, the maple leaves wafted in the wind.

_And Kayo watched._

It took her quite some time to realize that something else was happening. She thought, at first, that the gurgling sound she heard was an overflowing levy in the nearby fields, or puddles in the road draining down the embankment. Yet it grew gradually louder and louder, until it seemed to herald the arrival of an oncoming typhoon…

It made her think of the terrible floods that had dragged her mother away from her, an event which was long past to her now, but still several years in the future of this memory. The knowledge of what was to come made her wary. She shivered, half expecting to see a wall of water knifing through the trees. Yet, though the sound continued, she couldn't see anything so malevolent, so obviously threatening as that…

_Then she saw it._

It wasn't particularly sinister. It certainly wasn't supernatural.

Some flaw in the construction of the hut's roof caused the rain to gather in a certain spot. Perhaps time had caused the straw to shift and form a cavity in its midst. Perhaps mildew and rot had eaten away at the structure's core, like a worm in an apple. Whatever the reason, a puddle the size of a cook-pot began to gather in the ceiling. The weave of the straw indeed must have been stronger than it looked, for a veritable reservoir slowly filled there, tinkling musically as the downpour steadily fed it, and still it held itself aloft.

_But then…_

The roof began to dip, then buckle, then bulge…

The ceiling drooped lower and lower under the weight of the water…

A few drops filtered through to the room beneath…

They fell… and landed…

…_ right on the rim of the basket, in which the baby slept_.

Kayo watched in disbelief as the roof steadily continued to sink. The old woman muttered in her sleep, but settled and slumbered on, snoring softly. She could just barely hear the sigh of the baby's – _her own_ – breath from within the basket…

_She wanted to cry out, to rush over, to do _something_ - but how could she?_

_What good would it do?_

The hanging straw sank lower; it shuddered, shredded, and burst open…

With a satisfied rumble, it hurtled down like a waterspout…

… _right into the open mouth of the humble cradle_.

The baby had no time to wake and cry out. The rainwater tumbled down in one single tumultuous stream; the blankets that swaddled the infant must have stopped it from escaping through the bottom of the basket, for it held the water well.

_Too well._

The basket wobbled slightly, its sides shuddering from the sudden force of the extra weight. It only managed to throw a thin trickle out over its sides. Then it righted itself and stood still.

_Too still._

The water shrouded the contents of the basket entirely. Barely anything was visible…

A bubble of air… maybe two…

But they swiftly burst and sank.

_No more followed them._

A shadow, which may have been a lock of dark hair, drifted serenely just below the surface.

The rain treated the newly-rent hole in the roof as an open invitation. It pelted through, following the path that the previous flow had taken, down into the bowels of that tragic basket. The droplets splashed up, splattering on the old woman's arm and rousing her.

"Is it raining…?" she muttered drowsily to herself. "I'd better cover Kayo-chan, or she might get wet and catch…"

She turned to look at the basket, inside which the sodden bundle of blankets was topped with that sparse, floating mass of dark hair; the entire contents of the basket were completely immersed. The bundle was deathly still.

The old woman froze in horrified disbelief. For a long while, not a single line in her face stirred. Then her lips began to quiver, working in some vain attempt to articulate what she saw.

Then she let out a blood-curdling _shriek_.

She pawed frantically at the bundle for some time, trying to coax a sign of life from the cold, water-logged little body; at last, when this vain attempt failed, she began to wail hysterically, as she crumpled to the ground in a fit of despair.

Standing on the opposite side of the road, the rain falling through her unnoticed, Kayo – the _current _Kayo – had buried her face in her hands, no longer able to watch. Her shoulders shook with great sobs; tears seeped through her fingers to join the insubstantial rain.

"T-t-that w-was…"

She somehow managed to form the words as fresh sobs racked her. "That child… that p-poor child who d-d-drowned… that couldn't have… b-but that… _but that w-was…_"

_But that was me… I _died_…_

* * *

A hand came to rest on each of Kayo's shoulders. One of them wore a gold ring with a red stone.

The medicine seller stood behind her; he gently drew her towards him. Kayo dropped her hands and leaned back against him. She was still shaking, though she didn't feel cold; her cheeks were wet, though the rain had not touched them.

"This is not a true memory," the medicine seller said, his breath brushing comfortingly against her cheek. Though she could not see him, he felt reassuringly solid and real in the midst of this haze-like vision. "It is only a representation of what might have happened, had events shaped themselves differently. Let us now look at what really occurred all those years ago, beneath the maple tree."

He reached for the pedant that hung around his neck, and taking it between thumb and forefinger, he turned it on its chain. As he did so, it seemed the world paused…

…hung precariously suspended in stagnant time…

…then slowly, _slowly began to turn back upon itself._

As the pendant's round orb completed one full revolution, the entire scene was reset.

* * *

Kayo found herself once again on the road that led through the forest.

To the average eye, not a thing at changed. The rain still fell; the leaves of the trees still whispered in the downpour; the old woman still joined it with the soft rumble of her snores. In fact, it was the same rain that fell, the same leaves that murmured, the exact same breathe producing the exact same snores; all that they had just seen was happening again, a perfect duplicate of those few moments in time.

Only now they had warped, becoming something else. The speculative vision had converged with reality.

_Once again, Kayo watched._

She knew now, knew what was going to happen. She knew what to expect. She was watching the raindrops, listening to the random pattering sound they made, trying to discern a familiar pattern, a miniscule spark of recognition, some type of cue or sign; _something_ that would give her an indication of what was about to unfold. Something to show her that the impending sequence of events had somehow changed. She knew what was coming, and was bracing herself for it; at the same time, she was desperately willing it not to happen.

Then, after what seemed an age yet was all too quick, it came. The tell-tale sound of trickling water.

The first time she had seen it, it had seemed to happen painfully slow, as though some cruel force had wanted to make her feel the full brunt of that crippling despair; to torturously live each moment, as she had watched herself die. Now, everything seemed to be happening too fast.

The roof dipped – the straw split – the water fell –

_And still, nothing had appeared to stop it…_

The icy jet tumbled down toward the prone basket, and the precious load it held…

_Then, it happened-_

Quick as a serpent striking, a single branch of the maple tree bent at a drastic angle, stretching urgently towards the hut…

It could barely reach, but somehow, it made it. The canopy of crimson foliage neatly shielded the infant's head, the water rattling like scattered bones over the blood-red leaves. Diverted from its original course, the water plummeted out of control; instead of coming to rest in the basket, it pour right over the old woman's arm. Her sleeve was still hitched up from her work; as the cold spout prodded her insistently, and she woke with a startled gasp.

"It's raining…!" she exclaimed groggily, hurtling abruptly back into the waking world. "I'd better cover Kayo-chan, or she might get wet and catch a chill." She turned and noticed the rain tumbling freely in through the hole in the roof. "And there's a leak in the roof, too! How irritating!" She tutted disapprovingly, completely oblivious to the tragedy that had just been so narrowly averted. "This whole thing is falling to bits! I'll have to have a talking to Tatsuya-san about repairing this old hut. We really should get the whole useless pile replaced, but he's so tight with the village's coffers. I'm sure he loosens the strings up enough to slide a little something into his own purse every once in a while. Not enough at one time for folks to notice and accuse him, but a steady trickle adds up after a while…"

The whole time she berated the village head in scandalized tones, she was first tucking an extra blanket round the tiny bundle, then arranging a straw cloak over the entire basket. There was an old wooden tub in the corner of the hut, usually used to gather up the loose chaff after the harvest; she overturned this and moved the basket on top of it in lieu of a seat, moving further down the long stool herself to prevent the arm of her kimono from getting any more of an impromptu laundering.

"We really should do something about this old tree, too," she said to herself resolutely, as she rewound her ball of twine and began working on it again. "Some of those branches are coming awfully close to the hut; if they grow any more, they just might push the whole thing right over. And the way it's leaning like that, it'd only take a single decent push of wind to send that heavy trunk over on top of some poor unfortunate. Perhaps Harada-san could have a look at it…"

As it happened, it would be many more years before the old lady's prophesising words would come to fruition; enough time for the baby in the basket to grow up and do many things – find work as a seamstress, help slay _mononoke_, explore Edo, return home in disgrace. As Kayo looked, though, she realized that it was already true; the tree _was_ now leaning significantly. It hadn't exactly been pointing directly up towards the sky before, but now its uneven stance was far more pronounced. Its impetuous attempt to thrust its limbs out over the prone little figure must have somehow upset its footing.

Such a simple thing, with such dire repercussions…

* * *

The mirror dangled from the medicine seller's hand; he touched it lightly with one finger, and obediently, it began to spin on its chain. Slowly at first, but ever gaining speed.

Time turned with it; whole years spun by in the space of moments. The sun passed through the sky like a meteor, to be followed by the moon, the pair chasing each other across the sky at a heart-stopping rate. People trod the path through the forest; though they looked like they were moving at nothing more than a brisk march, they streaked to and fro as though at a sprint. Every so often Kayo thought she recognized a blurred face or two, but they slid swiftly away before she got a proper look, like leaves scattered by a wintry gale. Gradually, she began to notice that with the passing of days, the tree's position was becoming more and more precarious. It seemed to go through adulthood and reach old age, becoming crabbed and angular, standing with a distinct stoop.

Until, at last, Tatsuya and Harada stood at its base.

The medicine seller let go of the pendant. Time slackened and slowed, recommencing at its accustomed pace.

This was evidently a different day to the one that Kayo had just lived; for a start, the pair were alone, and wore different clothes to the ones she last remembered seeing them in – which wasn't so unusual in Tatsuya's case, but was significant, she decided, in Harada's. They appeared to be deep in conversation, though Kayo wasn't close enough to discern exactly what they were saying. Tatsuya was talking volubly and gesturing excessively, looking down every now and then to avoid tripping over a tree root or dragging the hem of his hakama through the dust. Harada said less, but appeared to say what words he did with just as much emphasis, his broad shoulders stoically set and his entire frame resolutely immobile. At last, it seemed the two came to a unanimous decision; Tatsuya nodded with an over-pompous air of finality, and Harada looked satisfied, stroking the head of his axe with apparent anticipation.

The death knell had fallen. The tree was condemned to be executed.

_Despite_ having never done anything wrong.

_Despite_ its flaws being no fault of its own.

_Despite_ having once saved a life…

The _act_ had been voluntary. The _sacrifice_ was not.

_And so, in order to save itself…_

At last, the full circumstance of the _mononoke_'s regret had made itself apparent.

* * *

_Author's Note: Finally! It took long enough, I know!_

_I have several excuses. First, I was busy finishing my Masters thesis (yes, it took me all that time), and though I was eager to write more of this fic, my uni work had to take preference; I get distracted easily enough as it is (as referenced by how bloody long it took!). Secondly, a lot of plot threads need to come together here, so I worked over them meticulously, making sure I followed up on all the clues and included every vital detail. I hope I haven't forgotten anything!_

_And thirdly: this chapter and the next one are closely linked, so I worked on both at once. Fortunately for you impatient readers, it means Chapter 14 is already very close to complete! I just need a bit more time to add to it, give it a final edit, and hopefully polish off my thesis whilst I do so (damn thing never seems to end!). I'll also give people plenty of time to read and contemplate this chapter before posting the next one, so please, if you like it or have feedback to give, send me a review – if I get enough, I might post the next instalment sooner! (or not - a lot depends on that damn thesis!)_

_I hope it was worth the extended wait, please enjoy!_

_~ W.J._

* * *

_p.s. I did something that I very rarely do, and generally avoid: I went back and edited an old chapter. _

_You may notice that this chapter begins with an extended monologue by the medicine seller. The first draft of this chapter began with Kayo standing in the road; the transition to opium-dream seemed too abrupt. So I wrote the monologue, without any definite strategy in mind, just stream-of-consciousness stuff. I only realized afterward that it was similar to the opening of an episode, where Kusuri-uri gives a brief, cryptic recount of the story so far. I liked this idea, but if I were to divide my story into episode-length instalments, the distribution was all wrong; it was split into two unequal halves, since my story is now nearly finished (!). To mimic the show's format properly, it needed to have three parts of similar length. So I went back and added a short monologue to the beginning of Chapter 5._

_I usually hate doing that. It seems like cheating; in traditional publishing, authors can't go back and add words to their books once they're in the readers' hands. It also seems like a betrayal of longer-serving readerships, who had to make do with the older, obsolete version when the chapter was first posted._

_I hope nobody minds that I broke my own rule – I feel a bit hypocritical, but it really does accentuate the story. Ongoing readers won't lose much by not reading it, but think of it as a bonus extra, a little Easter egg sort of thing. (I'm probably making a big deal out of something that is less than ten lines!) _

_p.p.s. I don't think I've ever included so many line-breaks in a chapter as I have in this one! The spooky atmospheric power of the enter key! Gah! Please look forward to Chapter 14!_


	15. Chapter 14: Release!

**Chapter 14 – Release!**

The medicine seller's pallid lips twisted themselves into a smile.

He stood firmly on the spot, having easily shrugged off the effects of the opium. Perhaps his own medicines were subservient to his will.

The demon-slaying sword hovered just above his head, though both his hands were by his sides; it floated unsupported, its bell and the hair of the hilt's figurehead undulating gently as it swayed, seemingly held aloft by some mystic breeze. The gentle movement made it appear to be alive, rising and falling each time it drew breath.

"_Jubokko_, I know now. _Katachi, makoto… _and_ kotowari_… at last, my knowledge… is complete."

His voice was low and composed as ever; but some other nuance had crept into it. It was soft, smooth. Smug.

"You were the tree beneath which baby girls were left as unwanted off-casts, sacrifices given to the forest, for the sakes of starving homes. You sheltered them as best you could, until they each inevitably met their demise. One of your branches was even removed and carved in the shape of Inari, in an attempt to placate those children's restless spirits. Such a paltry act could not do so; you had already become the caretaker of their departed souls. They inhabited your earthly shape, turning you into a vampire tree. That is your _katachi._"

As he finished this statement, the walls of the tree's trunk rippled, convulsed erratically; shapes began to form in them. Bones emerged, skeletal figures clothed in tattered kimonos, dishevelled cascades of branches falling around their skull-like faces. They stretched emaciated limbs towards the protective circle of gold charms, reaching menacingly for their ensnared prey. These were no hapless infants; these were macabre parodies of the women they would have become, if only they had had the time. If only they had lived.

The medicine seller continued, as though he didn't see them.

"One day twenty years ago, as heavy rains fell, you witnessed the near-drowning of an infant girl. The souls of those perished children still resided in you; they sympathised with her plight, and they compelled you to save her. Your branches shielded her from the treacherous downpour which, if events had shaped themselves as fate had intended, would have taken her life. Instead, you prevented her demise; the very first life you had managed to protect, after so many senseless death. That girl – Kayo-san – would become the focus of your enmity. She is your _makoto_."

* * *

Kayo found herself standing inside that glittering ring of protective charms. The paper slips circled round and round, keeping time with her whirling wits. She felt dazed; her head still resided in a fog. She wasn't sure if she was fully awake yet, or still immersed in dreams. She didn't know how she stayed upright; she felt rooted to the spot.

Perhaps she really _was_… when she tried to shift her feet, they seemed to cling to the ground.

She looked down; her attention was diverted by something that appeared to be on the back of her hand. A dark whorl of skin, like a faded tattoo, disappeared up her sleeve. She pushed the cuff back, but it continued up her arm; she couldn't see it, but it had slithered up her neck and across her face as well. The gesture made her notice her clothing itself. The pattern in it had changed, no longer the fresh yellow-floral design that she had painstakingly chosen for its cheery look. It appeared to be full of some delicate filigree that had been embroidered too finely for her to see the stitches; a series of tendrils which interwove and crossed each other's paths in intricate tangles. They looked like drooping ferns, or perhaps interlocking branches…

No, not half as pretty as that… this was a sheath of jutting brambles, full of thorns…

It had imprinted itself on her clothes, branded itself against her skin. It was the bond that the _jubokko_ had forged with her, given visual manifestation.

She reached up, touching a hand to her hair. It dragged roughly against her fingertips and made a clattering sound, like twigs jostled by the wind.

She fiddled with the ends of it absently. She couldn't manage to register shock or revulsion any more. After everything she had already seen and heard tonight, nothing surprised her.

* * *

"Unbeknownst to you, your valiant effort to save another would cause your own life to hang in the balance. Your body wasn't made to perform such rigorous actions; when you thrust your limbs out to divert that fatal stream, you became unsteady. Already robbed of a vital limb, your balance was compromised. You began to lean dangerously, losing your tenuous grip on the steadying earth beneath you. The villagers noticed it. Instead of giving you their thanks for the valour you had shown, those same humans, whose own terrible weakness you had already witnessed, declared you a hazard and condemned you to death.

"You had seen tragic sacrifice enacted many times over; in your rush to prevent another tragedy, you became an unwitting sacrifice yourself. And that angered you. Those dead girls had instilled in you a powerful will to survive. Despite the benevolence you had shown, you still wanted to live yourself. It is the most basic instinct of each and every creature, that fervent wish to continue on at all costs; no living thing truly wishes to be destroyed. Yet destroyed you would be, and by the same creatures who had caused such wanton destruction all those years ago. Your rage and resentment caused you to victimize that same one you yourself had previously saved, trying to forcibly take back the life that you had given to her. That… is your _kotowari_."

_Clack!_

The sword's teeth clinked together. It was a swift, almost vicious motion; as though the tiny mouth, in the anticipation battle, already craved the taste of blood.

"Life is not transferable between two beings," the medicine seller continued, still outwardly calm and speaking meditatively. "You must create your own life within yourself, else perish. Life has no ownership; it simply is or isn't. Life is intangible, incidental; it cannot be held, captured or stolen, only experienced. Only lived. You cannot take the life that you gave Kayo-san back from her. What you propose to do is quite impossible. But then, it is pointless to reason with you now. Isn't it… _mononoke_?"

His immediate answer was a rattling rush; the bones of the _jubokko_'s deceased hosts had all transformed into sentient vines armed with cruel tips, brandished like a ring of spears. They thrust inward in a single, murderous onslaught; but they could not overcome the whirling fortifications of the golden charms. Wooden points broke; splinters rained down as their futile ambush came to naught.

"I thought as much."

The medicine seller's smile actually broadened, showing the barest points of two canine teeth. His expression took on the subtle air of an animalistic snarl. The _jubokko_ seemed to notice it, and heed it; the vines slithered back into the bare wooden walls. Recouping themselves. Waiting for a proper opening.

"In order to suit your own ends, you attempted to commandeer Kayo-san's history. You may have squandered her memories, seeking retribution for what you perceived to be a past wrong. You may even think that you own the present; you have us practically within your grasp, I will concede as much. However, I cannot allow you to forcefully take the future of another. That future belongs to Kayo-san, and to her alone. You cannot take the life she has left to live, any more than you can have those days and years she has already spent, however much you covet them. Your kind have no life of their own; only shadows and reflections, fleeting snatches of hollow existence, lacking in vitality, devoid of meaning. You are a false thing, a distorted image of pain and regret, a warped mirror held up to the ugly views which circumstance has shown you. There is no life left to you, as you are; no number of futures would be enough to sustain you. And you cannot have this one. Not Kayo-san's. And not mine either," he added, almost as an afterthought.

He raised his hands above his head, index fingers extended; they were poised at either end of the sword, though he did not touch it.

_Not yet. Not with _these_ hands._

"My fate is to destroy you, then to continue seeking out and destroying others like you. Many of your kind have tried to destroy me, so that they might preserve themselves. Not a one has yet succeeded, and you will not be the first." This statement was delivered confidently, but without egotism. It was matter-of-fact, informed by experience. Tempered by countless repetitions of similar battles.

He crossed his arms above his head, sleeves hanging innocuously slack, like empty sails. The gesture seemed effete, almost delicate, as opposed to the subtle current of combative energy that was swiftly surging into his hitherto placid mien.

_"Form, truth, regret, assembled thus… my sword shall be released!"_

He drew his hands abruptly apart; sleeves surged and snapped sharply, like flying pennants. There was an answering metallic ring, as an inch of steel slid smoothly from the sheath.

"_RELEASE!_"

The head of the sword uttered this single word as a long, guttural growl; like a pent-up sigh of frustration, instantly turned to eagerness. A jubilant war-cry.

It was followed a moment later by deafening silence.

* * *

The exchange occurred, as it always did, on an alternate plane. This place seemed to overlap with the mundane world; it still looked like the interior of the old tree, though everything had been turned to a muted, featureless white, only the contours of the space possessing obvious edges. It was as though the inside of the tree had been instantaneously turned to paper, its semblance vaguely traced over with a thin grey ink. It had become distant, unnecessary; removed from reality.

Everything else had disappeared. The only beings present were the pair of them – two softly-glowing creatures, like embers which steadily burned blue and yellow, flickering with concealed intensity. Truth be told, it was doubtful that these two were at all separate; their spirit ran one into the other, unbroken, like a river flowing ever onward from one bank to another, retaining its own self even whilst its location shifted.

There was, indeed, very little to exchange between them. He felt himself drifting, as though on the verge of sleep; then his eyes reopened in alertness a moment later, their pupils now the colour of burnished gold. The spectral tattoos that emblazoned his skin flared up with an added lustre as the full extent of his power drained into this other body. In fact, it was not at all a foreign entity; it was as much his own self as that other, mortal housing of his soul. The exchange hindered him no more than the shedding of one robe and the donning of another. It happened even quicker than that; though to him it took the time of a gradual drift from one dream into another, in the real world, it filled as little duration as it might take to blink.

In an instant, the other one, the golden god, stood there. The sword hovered before him, waiting patiently for that exchange, so swift it barely registered any spent time at all, to complete itself.

With an arm encircled by gilt stripes, he reached out a hand. The back of it was adorned with mysterious gold sigils.

His fingers closed on the hilt. Its width fit comfortably in the hollow of his hand. As though it were simply a part of him that had become detached, yet was still irrevocably connected to the rest of his being.

The man, the god, the weapon – they were all one and the same.

* * *

The _mononoke_ was growing impatient.

The constant rasping sound, like branches tossing in a turbulent wind, grew steadily louder – steadily more hostile.

Branches began to grow out of the walls of the trunk; they twisted back on themselves at sharp angles, yet they pressed insistently inward. Stabbing in towards the centre of its deadly trap, where, within a turning ring of paper charms, that long figure stood, defiantly still and impudently unconcerned.

The branches halted at the edge of that glowing maelstrom, uncertain. It seemed that its very brightness could protect; they cringed away from that steady glow, knowing that the gently radiating light could unmake them at a touch.

So they changed tactics.

Red buds instantaneously sprouted upon each and every branch; they didn't just unfurl, but burst open, propelling themselves from their stems and clogging the air. Their ragged edges were treacherously sharp; like a cloud of sinister blood-red shuriken, they began to press in on their prey's paper defences, confident that they could breach such a fragile barrier…

The golden creature seemed to stand unmoved. Then, with minimal effort, he raised an arm.

Glistening tattoos shimmered, accompanying the movement; in response, the fluttering paper charms slowed for an instant. Then, as though they had gathered energetic reserves, they whirled outwards with sudden violence, spinning like a cyclone of sunbeams. Their edges were turned outwards, angled to slash like blades; they mowed down the hapless red missiles as though they were mere chaff.

The _jubokko_ seemed chastened by this minor defeat, but only for an instant. After all, it had its prey practically sitting within its jaws; all it needed to do was bite down.

Before the paper charms could renew their defensive formation, black branches lanced inwards with a speed few arrows could match, intent on pinioning the enemy in their midst.

Bare feet kicked off the ground.

He didn't appear to exert himself overly, yet he soared upward, rising faster and straighter than any bird could manage. The branches, thick with thorns, tore through the air that eddied in his wake. They all closed in just a fraction too late.

He perched at a masterful position at the head of the battlefield, right at the highest point of the tree, where the walls tapered in to form the topmost branches. He hovered without seeming to do anything to keep himself aloft. He held the sword casually, in a loosely-closed grip. He shifted it in his hands; his fingers, each tipped with formidable talons, clenched upon the lacquered sheath.

As though preempting an eminent victory, or perhaps savouring the bitter-sweet tang of the battle itself, his face quirked into a triumphant leer.

Scarlet nails rasped against the hilt; he tugged, and obediently, the blade hurtled from its sheath. It was not a hard, cold arc of tempered steel, as other, _mortal_ blades were; it was the fire of the swordsmith's forge itself that sheared through the darkness, slicing mercilessly through any wooden tendrils which happened to impede its path. These unfortunate sentients were instantly severed, burnt from the rest of their bodies. They flared up briefly, their blackened edges scorched; but before they had time to even raise any smoke, they crumbled away into nothing.

Scattered by the winds of oblivion, like so much ash.

He performed only a single cut, but the blade was given extra impetuous by his gradual fall, and he turned as he fell. There was not a _sun_-square-sized patch of wooden wall that didn't feel the agony of the sword's whistling blaze. Hoarse shrieks of pain choked the air; yet, heard even over this cacophonous lament was a powerful yell, echoing against within the tree's narrow confines like ferocious thunder. It issued from a mouth contorted by a snarl; it was lent a ragged edge by having passed beneath the glistening points of two canine teeth. Their tips bit down on air, protruding over blue-tinged lips.

Like the snapping jaws of a fearsome beast.

* * *

She was only vaguely aware of what was happening above her. Perhaps the noise had woken her; or perhaps she had only just managed to struggle her way back to consciousness, laboriously dragging herself out of a sleep that had been prompted by asphyxiation, but prolonged by the drug.

She didn't see or hear him land. When she finally managed to wrest her eyes open and raise her bleary head, she saw him standing before her.

His brilliance nearly blinded her, but she was riveted by that terrible radiance, and found that she couldn't stop looking. He had been quite handsome, even as he was ordinarily; she merely marvelled at the different kind of beauty this transformation had bestowed upon him. Before, his looks had bordered mortal bounds, making him look akin to a _kitsune_ in gorgeous human semblance. With this earthly layer stripped back, he was completely otherworldly.

It never occurred to her to question his identity. After all, she had seen him like this twice before, and on both those occasions, she hadn't wondered for a second. She recognized him in an instant; she felt rather than saw the resemblance. After all, people were always changing – both externally and internally – yet some essential part of them always stayed persistently the same. She had learnt that well enough. She herself had changed countless times throughout her life. But she was still the very same Kayo who had slept in an old rice basket, prattled to her grandmother, teased Odajima-sama, and thrown salt at a _bake neko_.

People had many facets; but their inner depths still appeared the same, even when viewed from any number of angles.

In his case, the changes he had undergone were only superficial. The exterior was altered, but the core remained as steady and constant as always. It was the inertia in his manner that defined him.

She addressed him as she always did, though the solemnity of the situation made her voice come somewhat more quietly, more hesitantly than usual.

"The _mononoke_… it's still here, isn't it?"

"Yes."

Despite the change in his appearance, the voice was exactly the same, down to the very last inflection. It reassured her, though his words were somehow a bit blunter than his habitual way of speaking. Perhaps it was some sort of trade; the transformed divinity of his looks meant that he could speak in mortal tones for once. "The _ayakashi_ itself has been exorcised," he continued, "but the attachment it formed with you remains intact."

His manner was still incongruously matter-of-fact, which reassured her somewhat. She was glad he didn't try to lie to her, or evade her question in order to try to spare her any fear. Truth be told, she wasn't afraid. She trusted him implicitly, whatever the imminent outcome may be. They had come too far for her to consider doing anything else.

That was why the sight of the bare sword in his hand didn't frighten her, even as its fiery edge snapped continuously at the air. Even though despite being held carefully lowered by his side, the blade seemed to draw her towards it, beckoning her to fall upon its edge.

"Your only choice is to slay the _mononoke_?"

"Yes. As I told you when we were on the boat to Edo, a _mononoke_ is a thing which simply cannot exist; and so I must banish it from this world."

She voiced the question she had been longing to ask, though she dreaded the answer.

"In order to do so, must you also slay me?"

He didn't answer immediately, but it was more a pause than a hesitation. It seemed to yawn like a gulf in the space between them, though the gap was still rendered alarmingly narrow by the threatening length of that blade.

She wasn't bothered, though she had to wait. Though the entirety of her fate rested on whatever syllable he might utter in response. She was well accustomed to his characteristics by now. His mysteriousness was as unalterable as the rest of his perpetual being. His lack of action was as potent as any action itself; his contemplation was as definite as any actual motion he might make.

"No… that is to say… the connection you formed with the _mononoke_ will be severed. In order to do so, the blade shall pass close, but your physical self shall not be cut. However… "

He paused again; the silence prompted her to ask another question.

"Will you have to cut my soul? Like you did to Genkei-sama?"

"Genkei-sama had allowed a sizable portion of his soul to atrophy and fall into decay, simply by suppressing his true feelings. I was forced to cut away that fetid part of himself, so that he could acknowledge it and lay it to rest. Such a blight has not yet come over your soul, though if you let the _mononoke_ remain attached to you, it may begin to corrupt you as well. Just as happened to Genkei-sama, someone – _something_ –offered to give its life in your place. You were saved long ago, and that act cannot be undone. However, those dead children saved you because they pitied you, and if you succumb to that pity, you will be at risk."

"What must I do to overcome it?"

The question hovered in the air between them. The silence hummed louder still than the ferocity of the blade; but it was quickly dispersed, as the answer crossed the space between them. It cut through the musty air, yet was gentle on her ear, as he said:

"You must form… your own will to live."

She didn't reply for a moment; she simply took in his words.

"My own … will to live…"

She repeated it slowly, mulling the phrase over. She remembered what the _jubokko_ had said to her, just before she had lost consciousness…

_"Live… we want… to live…"_

"Can it live too? The tree… can it also continue to live?"

"The tree itself is not an _ayakashi_. It merely became a vessel for ghosts which needed to be exorcized. The tree is not one such ghost; it is still quite alive. But it is up to it whether it retains the determination to live… or not. You cannot save it, whether your own life is attached to it or otherwise. Just as you must decide for yourself, it too must take charge of its own fate. It must make its own will to live."

He took another of his customary pauses, and used the opportunity to smile at her. It was like a blinding ray of sunlight, shining directly onto her, filling her gaze with golden light. She almost felt the gentle heat emanating from it. It was very comforting.

"Still, there is much you can do for it, and for yourself. In order to help the tree… in order to free those children… in order to save yourself…You must find your own determination. You must have… _your own reason to live_."

"My own reason…"

Kayo thought back. She thought over all the things that had come to mind when it had seemed the _jubokko_ had been about to end her life.

Each thought strayed through her memory and was gone again in an instant, like windswept leaves. But they remained somewhere, she was sure. She could feel each of those memories – those small triumphs and brief tears, everything she had done and seen and experienced. Everything that made her Kayo – made her exactly, _uniquely_ who she was.

It all stayed with her. It was all inside her. It lingered on there, imperishable. Exclusively hers.

It felt warm. It felt funny, and sad, and scary, and despondent, and uplifting… and so… _so_…

… so very _human_… so very, very much _alive_…

"Yes," she said, with an unshakeable certainty. Though her tone was solemn, a bit of her old wilfulness was evident in her voice, making her words ring with conviction. "Yes, I will be alright… because, I want to live… I really do _want _to _live_…"

His smile broadened slightly; it made him blaze up a little bit more brightly.

"I'm very glad to hear it. I'm sure your mother and grandmother would be, too."

She smiled back gratefully, blushing slightly despite the seriousness of the situation. She was glad that she had some significance, however humble her station, her social standing, or her occupation may be. She was glad that it wasn't selfish of her to be so determined to prolong her own existence. To keep going as she had, on her terms, in her own chosen way…

… _to go on living…_

And she was glad that someone else wanted her to live, too.

"Thank you."

She closed her eyes and bowed her head; she was suddenly comfortably weary. It was almost a state of relaxation. She knew he wouldn't falter or misjudge. She had full confidence in him. And in herself.

"Do what you must, then. I trust you to carry it out."

She heard rather than saw his answering grin. The tiny sound was at once solemn and satisfied, gleeful and grim.

Then the noise of the blade grew from a growl to a roar, as he hefted it with a steady, proficient hand. He held it aloft, poised right over her head. About to come down.

"Well, then, if you are prepared… _let it be so._"

* * *

She didn't flinch, though the sword's descent was almost deafening. The glare from the blade was piercing; her eyes were closed, yet stars still seemed to leap and whirl before her, like fireworks that somehow managed to sear right through her eyelids. She felt no heat, no pain, no impact to speak of; a slight breeze ruffled her hair, imprinting itself briefly against her cheek before dropping away, the sound dwindling with it.

In the intense quiet that followed, she heard a diminutive _snap_, followed by a soft, almost apologetic rustle. It was only then that she opened her eyes.

Directly within her field of vision, which was levelled at the ground, a single scarlet leaf fluttered to rest at her feet. An instant before it hit the ground, it split neatly in two; then it crumpled, crackled like a dying spark, and disintegrated into black.

Like a tiny pinch of spent ash.

Her hair tumbled forward around her face. Though the leaf had fallen from her head-height, not a single severed strand floated down to join it.

Unlike Daisuke, the medicine seller's aim was perfectly true – right down to a hair's breadth.

_How long had it been there? _Kayo wondered absently, as she looked at the spot where the leaf had just disappeared. In the habit of a woman who was conscientious of her looks, she meticulously did her hair up each morning, and smoothed it out every night. A red leaf had never become caught in the teeth of the comb; she had never heard a tell-tale rustle as she had released the strands from their pins. Yet it must have been there all that time, stealthily strengthening its hold on her, unseen and unfelt, not until the entire tree itself had loomed before her. Had it come to rest there when she had been little, making a humble crown for herself out of the leaves she had found in the dust? Or had it been bestowed upon her during that fateful day, when the rain had fallen in torrents; when that single branch had stretched out over her then sparsely-furnished head, and she had so narrowly avoided a fatal dunking?

Had it really lain amidst her locks, unnoticed, for almost _twenty years_?

In any case, it hardly seemed to matter now; it had been a figurative leaf as much as a physical one, a mere indication of the ties the tree had formed with her, uninhibited by time and undaunted by distance. Only the demon-slaying sword had been able to cut her free from its burden.

In the severing of that link, far more than a single leaf was affected. The hush that had fallen after the blade's strike was so complete that it was almost oppressive; it seemed to weigh heavily on the air like a form of tension, filling the narrow space and straining the wooden walls near to breaking. Then, it broke; somewhere high above there was a crash and a flurry of movement. Slowly, softly, like a rush of water, it began to fall; a shower of drifting leaves that floated with a dream-like serenity all around them.

The downpour was far more languid than it had been at the temple, where it had managed to destroy a row of paper charms. As though to confirm the lack of ill-intent that she felt, the golden god said in the voice of the medicine seller, his tone full of soft reassurance, of tender finality:

"It is finished. All of the _ayakashi_'s presence has left this plane. Your future… is once again your own."

Only then did she let the last of her anxiety fall away; only then did she allow herself to be lost in the beauty of this sombre spectacle. It was like watching the snow fall, yet the sight was practically polarized. Each 'flake' was a vivid vermillion, crackling audibly as it fell and flaring brilliantly, like a dying spark, before it came to earth and went dull.

An ember slowly fading into ash.

This ritual occurred a thousand times over, as the cloud of crimson enveloped the air around them. It was breath-takingly, achingly beautiful.

Kayo watched the leaves descending all around her in a fiery deluge, and thought how miraculous – how humbling and unlikely and incredible, how simply _indescribable_ – it was, just to be alive. She had seen some strange sights in her short life, but this was just the right combination of ordinary and otherworldly to be particularly poignant.

It felt like the start of the rest of her life; each leaf could be a memory from her past, softly being laid to rest.

"My own future?" she murmured to herself, contemplatively. "I wonder what I will do with it…"

As she said it, she realized that she didn't really care; not just yet, at any rate. Such considerations could wait. Decisions, actions, provisions; they could be left until tomorrow. For now, she just wanted to savour this moment.

To _live_, and to feel_ alive._

The curtain of red leaves fluctuated, billowing as though it were caught in a stray gust of wind.

She saw him standing opposite her. A single leaf fluttered through her line of sight, twisting as it fell. For a moment, its edge split her vision in two.

In that brief moment, she saw a being that was half-man, half-god.

On one side, she saw the golden creature that glistening with an inner fire, as though the sun was contained within his skin; power radiated from every inch of him, unconcealed, potent. On the other side, she saw the man – well, he seemed _almost _human, more so than the other at any rate. Pale and delicate by comparison, yet still possessed of an inner fire that was only glimpsed outwardly. It dutifully reflected the radiance of the other, much like the passive arc of the moon caught the light of the sun, whilst only revealing a hint of the intensity that lay within itself.

For a moment, she saw a single form split into two. For a moment, the halves eclipsed one another, like the sun and moon chasing each other across the sky; sharing the light whilst dividing it between themselves. Together, they generated such a steady brilliance.

Then the leaf continued its descent, passing from her view, and the golden god was gone; not so much as half of him, not a single trace, was left in sight. The disappearance was so sudden, she caught herself wondering if she had only ever imagined him. In his place, she saw only the medicine seller, as whole and unchanged as ever. Clothed in his customary raiment of chaotic colour, the sword sheathed and clasped innocuously in his slender hand; his face adorned with its broad streaks of paint, its infuriatingly cryptic expression firmly in place.

Perhaps the familiar sight of him was so reassuring that it soothed her overtaxed nerves. She almost wanted to accuse him of having set a flame to yet more opium, as a similar dulling sensation slowly crept over her senses. She soon realized, however, that the vagueness she felt enveloping her was just simple weariness. Its gentle weight was calming, comforting both her fatigued limbs and overwrought psyche. The full extent of the previous night's events had taken its toll on her, both bodily and mindfully. She let her body go slack, let her mind shut its eyes and fall into blissful inaction.

She didn't care that she already dozed where she stood, didn't care that she would crumple and fall to the ground if she continued her descent. All she knew was that she was so very, very tired. This simple knowledge made her gladly fall into whatever had come to claim her.

She was glad, for tiredness was nothing more than a consequence of being alive.

Her vision misted over, as though tendrils of smoke really did waft before her eyes. She could still see an occasional flare of red, as another leaf dropped past her. Beyond that was a faint smudge of colour, like the lights of distant lanterns reflected upon still water; this, she knew, was the indistinct pattern of the medicine seller's robe. Two points of crimson could have been more falling leaves, yet they hovered immovably about his head-height, keen dark pupils burning at their centres as they stared back at her from within the encroaching fog.

Then her vision dimmed drastically, as though a lamp was being put out behind her eyes. She allowed herself to slip into a deep, untroubled sleep.

* * *

_Author's note: Blimey._

_This was The Big Chapter - both in terms of size and in content. I agonized over this for months and months. I'd had the transformation scene written for ages in advance – I jotted it down while I thought of it – and I tinkered exhaustively with the details that went around it. This had to be the penultimate scene._

_I hope it lived up to expectation._

_I could've possibly divided it into two separate chapters, but after the long delays, that seemed too cruel P:_

_Next comes tying up all the loose ends, so the following chapter will take a while longer – I haven't got much of it pre-prepared yet – but it's now a careful slide from here to the finish._

_I hope you've enjoyed it as much as I have._

_Coincidentally, life has oddly imitated art. I started this story – whoa, three years ago?! Yet just this year, council decided to chop down a whole street lined with 14 fig trees, all of them more than 80 years old. Those trees made that street one of the prettiest places in town; 'The Green Cathedral', it was nicknamed, for all the wedding photos that were taken under it. The local community rallied to save them; the debate had in fact been going on for years, with great inconvenience and expense throughout. The council's excuse was that the trees interfered with wiring under the pavement; then that they impeded the development of a nearby building; then that they were all diseased. There were enquiries, protests, pickets and petitions – all futile. Earlier this year, every single one those trees were reduced to stumps and woodchips. Every single one._

_I could easily imagine how Kayo felt as she watched Harada standing before the maple tree with his axe upraised; multiplied by fourteen. So completely, utterly senseless._

_And, perhaps unfortunately, not a mononoke, nor a medicine seller, in sight._

_I digress. _

_Thanks for reading, I'll see you at the next chapter; there will probably be one more after that. Stay tuned!_

_~ W.J._


	16. Chapter 15: Laid to Rest

**Chapter 15: Laid to Rest**

_Red leaves…_

That was what she woke to; the first thing that she was aware of as she slowly returned to consciousness. A rich canopy of crimson leaves undulating gently above her…

After all the fear that leaves had induced the previous night, it was nice to once again regard them in a matter-of-fact light. The branch that she could see had a rather tranquil look about it. It must have been very still indeed, with barely any breeze to speak of; the pair of leaves directly in her line of sight barely fluttered at all…

No, not fluttering… they were _blinking_…

A pair of blue eyes stared steadily down at her out of the midst of the foliage.

She blinked her own sleep-clouded eyes, then did it again. Each time she did, her vision cleared a little.

She realized that what she saw was not a pair of maple leaves, but the jagged red markings around the medicine seller's eyes. He was somehow gazing down at her from somewhere above; from her point of view, his face appeared to be upside-down.

"Good morning," he said.

As though it were the most natural thing in the world. As though nothing at all untoward had occurred during the night.

For a moment, she didn't reply; wasn't sure how to, given the circumstances. She didn't even protest the fact that she lay on the heavily-trampled earth by the roadside, dusty leaves mingling with the flowers on her kimono and crumpling under her hands as she lifted them from her sides. Her head was cushioned in the medicine seller's lap, which was why he seemed to loom at her out of the sky; he wasn't huge, just very close. It was a very improprietous position for an unmarried girl like herself to be found in.

If she were in her usual frame of mind, Kayo might have had a few choice words to say to him about it; however, she couldn't yet find the energy to voice her exasperation. In fact, she wasn't even sure she could muster any annoyance at all. It wasn't that she couldn't raise the effort she needed to do so. Strangely, despite the eventful night that had just passed, she didn't feel at all tired. She didn't know how long she had been asleep for, but she felt remarkably well-rested. She just didn't have any inclination to get annoyed at all. She felt so much calmer somehow… sort of at peace with everything. As though that tiny maple leaf had been a constant irritation; a crushing burden that had constantly been weighing her mood down. Now that it had been removed, cut away by the demon-slaying sword, she felt so much lighter. Less inclined to whinge or whine or raise a fuss.

Instead she merely asked, with a nonchalance very much his:

"Is it morning?"

"Yes. You are just in time to see the sunrise."

Behind his head – which almost completely filled her gaze – she could see that the sky had lightened and taken on a rosy pink blush. Against it, maple branches threw out angular black silhouettes; it was as though the colours of night had been reversed, the flaming hue of the leaves augmenting what had moments ago been a dark sky, and vice versa.

Kayo contemplated the view thoughtfully, drinking the sight in. She had never felt so grateful to see a morning come.

"A few times last night, I wasn't sure if I would live to see another day."

"And yet, here you are," he replied good-naturedly.

It was a superfluous, obvious statement; yet after the peril they had faced, it seemed all the more miraculous that it could be said. He uttered the words while smiling at the soft glow which was rapidly strengthening upon the horizon.

Kayo smiled too; then stopped abruptly, distracted by a thought which had suddenly surfaced in her wakening mind.

The sunrise was certainly beautiful. It looked the exact tint and shade that she imagined the colour of renewal to be. It was as though those gentle rays were rejuvenating the world, smoothing over all the places where there had been so many endings, so much darkness. She appreciated the simple fact that she was here to see this new beginning all the more, as she remembered all those who weren't here; those who had already seen their very last sunset…

Harada…

Tatsuya…

Daisuke…

all those baby girls… and…

_and…_

"Mr. Medicine Seller," she said, after a moment's hesitation, "can I ask you something?"

"I am sure you can, though I do not yet know if I can answer it."

She wondered at first if he was being flippant, giving such a reply; then she remembered that though his lips appeared to be curving upward, her view of him was upside-down. He was watching her with calm, attentive eyes, which looked strangely knowing; she had the inexplicable feeling that he already knew what she wanted to say, but was politely waiting for her to ask it herself. She wasn't sure how that was possible, since the idea had only just occurred to her.

Peculiar appearance aside, he was indeed a very powerful man; but surely he wasn't _that_ good…

Reassured that he was treating her as-yet unvoiced query with due seriousness, she began to speak again. She realized, as she haltingly sought the best way to put it into words, that his premature response had perhaps been justified.

"That vision that I… that we saw, with the opium… of the rain pouring in, and the tree saving me… Well, about six years after that happened, my mother went out to work the fields. Even though it was a terrible day, with strong winds and heavy rain and a big storm coming, she insisted that she had to go out. The paddies that belonged to the family on the northern-most side of the village desperately needed to be tended; the family matriarch was ill, and all the other people in the house –all women, her husband had died the previous winter, and their sons had left to find work in the cities – they were busy inside, taking care of her. They said afterwards that some of them came out to help her, but Mother sent them all home, telling them shouldn't risk getting sick themselves. My grandmother was worried that she would come down with something herself, but she said she wouldn't, since she didn't mind the rain at all. She said it was like the clouds in the sky were reaching down to give her friendly little taps on the shoulder."

She paused to smile at the memory. The medicine seller smiled as well; his expression above her was like an inverted mirror, albeit one with its surface painted over with curious designs. It seemed to be genuine. Encouraged by it, she continued.

"The fields had fallen into bad disrepair, but Mother began planting them anyway. Even if they weren't in great shape, ill-kept fields that had something growing in them were better than nice ones that were bare. She planted one whole field by herself, before the rain really started coming down, hard enough to flatten the crops she had just planted, hard enough even to knock tiles off roofs in the village and make water-pitchers overflow. No one was sure what she had been about to do. Surely, if she had any sense, she had been running for shelter. Or perhaps she was just trying to cross to the next paddy, to begin planting it as well; that's just the kind of thing she would do. In any case, the old embankment crumbled underneath her. It hadn't been rebuilt properly since the last harvest, and the heavy rain was enough to wash the sides away. She slipped and landed in the next paddy, the empty one. It had been cleared for the previous year's planting, but the bottom of it had been stirred up by the downpour, and a large rock that had been buried under the soil got uncovered. It was just under the water where she went in. They said that she must have hit her head on it as she fell.

"They went out searching for her that night, after she didn't come home and grandmother was just about fretting herself away to nothing. I sat up all night, sure that they would find her sheltering somewhere, and bring her home safely. I didn't sleep at all; I was still awake the next morning. Because the weather was so bad, they didn't find her until the day came. By then, s-she… she h-h-had… she was already…"

She stopped, fighting to keep her composure. It had been a long time ago, but it still hurt.

_Especially knowing what she did now…_

"It seemed so extraordinary that she was just suddenly… _gone_. That she could be taken away as easily as that. I struggled to understand it for a long time. Wondering why it had had to happen _exactly_ like she should fall right there, of all places; why the rock just happened to be right under where she fell. She shouldn't have gone out that day. She shouldn't have stayed out for that long. But she did, and she was there, at just the wrong spot at the wrong time… and because of that, she… _s-s-she_…"

A tear slid down the side of her face, landing on the medicine seller's lap. It added a single spot to his kimono in a new, darker shade of blue that stood out, even amongst all those other riotous hues.

_The colour of sorrow… and of regret… _

_and…_

_…and possibly the colour of guilt…_

"Is it because of me that it happened?" she asked, in a choked voice. "_I_ was the one it was supposed to happen to, wasn't I? It was _me_ who drowned in that vision. That was what would've happened, if the _ayakashi_ hadn't interfered. But it changed. Everything changed. If things had happened like they were supposed to… if… if I really had… had d-died back then… would she… would she not have died? Was it because I didn't… that she was… did she _die in my place_?"

She fixed wide, bedewed eyes on the medicine seller; they radiated shining tracks of tears, in a sort of melancholic parody of his red make-up. Through a watery blur, she saw him looking down at her, not breaking his gaze, even as new tears welled up in her own eyes. He sat still, staring back at her; he looked contemplative, as if he were giving her words his full consideration.

She blinked away tears, dabbing her face with the edge of her sleeve. She was just beginning to get a hold on her emotions again, and wondering if he really wasn't able to answer her, as he had warned; when he suddenly spoke.

"No. I do not believe that she died in your place. Her death belonged to her alone. It was never yours; your own had been averted many years ago. That incident had no bearing whatsoever on the later tragedy."

"B-but… but if I really had… been drowned that day," Kayo protested, barely keeping from breaking into sobs again, "perhaps she would've been more careful… perhaps she would've thought better than to go out in that weather… perhaps she would've seen the danger of being near all that water…"

"Perhaps… but I very much doubt it."

She started at the vehemence in his words. This definite tone was a bit of a rarity for him. Well, for him as he was now.

A beam of sunlight flickered across his face, and for a moment she imagined the other, the golden one, was saying these words.

Then the branches above them were tossed by a light breeze that played with their ragged ends; the shadows shifted, shading his face, and he was the same as ever. She listened as he continued in this strangely certain, well-assured manner.

"Even if it were possible that she could have lived if you had died, you will never know for sure. A life can only be lived once. It is not like a road where you can turn and double back whenever you wish. It leads only in one direction; you have walked it, and moved on. You cannot try out a different path, or swap paths with another. Such a thing is impossible."

"Oh," she said, swallowing back a stray sob, sobered by his words. "I-I guess I should've already known that." _She was really starting to feel foolish for having asked him such a thing…_

"To think of such a thing, you were thinking like the _mononoke_," he pointed out; not accusing her, but speaking kindly, gently rebuking her. "The _jubokko_ thought that one life could be exchanged for another; that if one being died, the other would be able to live in its place. There is no sense in such a misguided concept. Death is not a fluid entity, flowing freely from one hollow into another, smothering out life wherever it comes to rest. It is more like a stone in a road; everyone comes upon it in their own time. Sometimes they come across it at one point, and barely manage to avoid it; inevitably, it will someday arrive again, to finally trip them up. You managed to dodge it once; the _mononoke_ aided you, diverting the path of your fate, letting you continue on. Your mother did not trip where you had only stumbled; the path she walked was quite separate from your own. Though she walked alongside you for all those years, you did not both walk the exact same road. We each have our own, even if our differing roads run parallel for a time. We have company on our journey, yet we each travel alone. Some roads end, while others continue further; each is of a varying length, though it must someday inevitably reach its end. Unfortunately, your mother reached the end of her journey; but you continued on. And you still have a way to go."

He went back to silently looking at the sky, giving Kayo time to think about what he had said.

"Besides," he suddenly added, jerking her back out of her reverie, "it's not as though you left her behind, is it? She stopped, but you kept walking. And you still carry her memory along with you."

He reach down then, and gently smoothed her hair with a precise, whisper-light touch. As his hand drew away, something rustled; she reached up carefully, and felt a jagged, papery edge graze her fingers. A single crackling leaf attached to a small, delicate twig had been affixed to her hair, slid between the strands like an ornamental pin. Kayo felt it there, and its presence made her remember…

_The maple-leaf crown she had made as a child… _

_She had done that on this very spot, many years ago… _

_…on the very day before the rains had come…_

_She had remembered that all on her own, hadn't she? Even without the opium's help? _

She had carried that memory, kept it safely somewhere in her, for almost fourteen years; along with countless others, of her mother and her grandmother as well, of the village elders who were long since gone, of childhood friends like Daisuke and Momoka. There were so many memories that she still had of those people, and of this place; it had all stayed with her, as well-preserved as if it had been encased in amber. All those stray details still lingered on, somewhere deep within the realms of her recollection. All the little nuances that made the place of her childhood differ from the village that was here right now…

She looked up at the maple leaves, knowing that they were quite different from the ones she had admired as a six-year old. These were far older.

_She_ was far older. But she was still the same.

Still herself.

And this place was still here. All the memories were still here.

For the first time since she had returned from Edo in disgrace, she actually felt glad that she was back here. Glad that she had had the opportunity to come back, to experience this bittersweet nostalgia, and to see the place in the fresh new light that time and change had shed upon it.

She wondered if the surrounding trees looked at her now, and remembered the little girl who had run past them with their discarded leaves poking out of her hair. She knew that at least one tree had remembered her for all that time.

Trees were far more attentive than most people would credit. Similarly, she had been an observer herself, though she hadn't stayed in the one spot; she had seen so many things far afield, in the cities, on the road, while crossing the sea. And now there were all the things that had happened the previous night to take into account as well. She was the custodian of all these experiences she had had, all throughout her life. People, places, sights and events – she would continue to carry them all with her. If she treated them right, perhaps their burden would shape her. Change her for the better.

"Ho, it looks as though the treatment I sold you has worked."

The medicine seller's words brought her attention back to the present; she still had her hand upraised, and as she moved again, the bracelet on her wrist tinkled softly, its tiny bell ringing out quite clearly. It was a very pure, positive little sound.

"Yes," she agreed, with a grateful smile. "I guess it worked really well."

"Only because the patient was receptive to its ministry. It was not the kind of medicine that gave you anything that you did not already have; it simply drew out the cure that was already inside yourself."

"Did I… yes, I guess it did," Kayo admitted.

It was true. It had only been when the _jubokko_ had been about to kill her, her life all but completely wrung out of her lungs, that her determination had returned full-force; her indominable will had rejuvenated itself, overriding the body that had been but a breath away from perishing. It was the rekindling of that obstinate inner spark that had prompted the paper seal inside the bell to reveal itself, to free the medicine seller from his near-entombment, allowing he in turn to emerge and save them both…

At the mention of the bracelet, she remembered the deal she had made with the medicine seller. Now she had to honour it, since the cure was complete.

"That's right," she said, her tone of voice returning to something that more resembled her ordinary self; all brisk and purposeful. Ready to handle whatever appeared along her path next. "I need to pay you back for the charm; it can't be put it off any longer, now that it has finally worked. How much do I-"

She started to fumble in her sash for the purse she kept secreted in its folds – it was difficult to reach while she was lying down – when his voice interrupted her.

"Those things you carry in your sleeve… will be… enough."

"In my…?" She stopped mid-motion, set off-kilter by this unexpected request. _Was there even anything…?_

She felt down into the corner of her sleeve, where the tight seams formed a secure pocket of sorts. Sure enough, something small and hard met her fingertips. She reached in, and drew out…

… a pair of sparkling red earrings.

_How did they get in there?_ she wondered to herself, somewhat staggered by the discovery. She tried to think back to the previous night, when she had found those earrings upon Inari's shrine…

_…the medicine seller had come and found her in the abandoned shrine; she had been surprised, turned too quickly, and slipped; he had helped her up, and sewn her kimono for her…_

She supposed, at some point, she must have absently tucked the jewellery into her sleeve for safe-keeping, then forgotten all about it… which was no wonder, considering all that had happened since then.

"These?" she asked, holding the earrings up. "Do you want them as payment? Will that be enough? They're not mine; I only found them, but if you want-"

"They will… suffice. Thank you. So _lucky_… that you found them…"

He reached out and took them from her outstretched hand. She hadn't even notice whether or not his ears were pierced – since he was already in the habit of wearing a ring, perhaps they were – but once he had lowered his hand and his sleeve no longer blocked her view, she saw the tiny red stones winking in the dawn light like little bits of sunrise themselves, looking particularly brilliant when set against his pale, strangely elongated earlobes.

"Hey, they suit you," she said with an amused giggle. Even upside-down, they somehow looked just right on him; like there were meant to be there. It was lucky, indeed, that-

Lucky… _had it really been luck?_

She didn't even recall putting those earrings in her sleeve, much less telling him about them… and they matched so perfectly with the tiny jewels set in his ring, even the ones that studded the sheath of the demon-slaying sword…

What were the chances of her happening to find them on a pair of _kitsune_, when she had never heard of foxes wearing any kind of jewellery before, in a shrine that had been abandoned for decades, in which she had only just happened to find herself by chance?

Furthermore, when she really thought back over it, so much of last night had only come about due to some freakishly-lucky turns of circumstance. After all, she never would have suspected yesterday afternoon, as she stumbled wearily along the forest trail, grumbling to herself, that not an hour later she would be set upon by a _mononoke_… and that moments before that happened, she would run into the medicine seller himself….

So lucky he had been there, or she might not be here now…

…_such luck…_

Was_ it just luck, though?_ she asked herself. Her head was fully cleared now, and she was becoming her usual savvy self.

That first time she had met him, back at the Sakai household, what were the chances that a medicine seller would turn up at a cursed household, just happening to be on the scene when the family's daughter was killed by the vengeful _bake neko_? How likely was it that he would just happen to turn up at that moment, when it had already been so long since poor Tamaki-san's death? And that boat to Edo – scores of ships crossed the harbour every day, so how had he just happened to be on the vessel that had been carrying not just herself, but a tormented old priest as well – a boat that had, through means which had been none of his own making, but that had certainly been deliberate, ended up in the middle of the Dragon's Triangle, surrounded by as many _ayakashi_ as he could ever care to vanquish?

She had put all these happenings down to peculiar junctures of coincidence; after all, if something so strange – _many_ things so strange – ended up happening one after the other, how else could one think of them, other than as random, concurrent occurrences of weirdness?

But now that she thought back over it all properly…

It occurred to her that the last time she had seen the medicine seller prior to this instance, he had been leaving the boat… he had been walking casually, a few paces behind the samurai… _what was his name?_ The creepy one, who kept talking to his sword… _Hyoue Sasaki_, she eventually managed to remember, who had been wandering dazedly up the street, clutching his eye and muttering to himself… at the time, Kayo had vaguely wondered if the medicine seller had been following him…

… _following_…

"You are wearing that frown again. You really should stop making it; if your future husband could see it now, it would certainly frighten him away."

At these words, coupled with an infuriatingly impish grin, Kayo finally managed to salvage her fiery temper.

"_Mr. Medicine Seller!_"

She sat up so fast, she would've painfully bumped foreheads with him, if he hadn't somehow read the signs and leaned back out of the way just in time.

She really got up too quickly; she felt giddy for a moment, but dispelled the dizziness with a shake of her head, making her hair fluff out on every side with the vigorousness of the motion. She fixed another furious glower upon him; her suspicions were now fully formed, and nothing he could say or do would stop her from pinning them on him.

"Have you been following me? I always thought afterward how weird it was that we ended up on the same boat, but you did it on purpose, didn't you? It wasn't just for the _umi bozu_, was it? You must've been able to tell back then, at the Sakai place, that that red leaf was already on me back then! It is just too ridiculous to think that you should have just happened to be there last night, right when the _jubokko_ decided to attack! Don't try to deny it – you've been sneaking along behind me, following me all the way back to my hometown, just so you could slay the mononoke! _Haven't you_?!"

This was delivered with all the ire that she could manage to generate beneath the soft, sloping rays of the iridescent morning light; it seemed that the day had grown a little more heated, a little sharper and brighter, with the unleashing of this sudden outburst.

The medicine seller looked back at her, calm as ever, with faint quirks of amusement hovering on either side of his mouth, his composure ruffled by little more than a gently cooling gust of forest breeze. He looked down at her, quietly observing her warlike expression and impassioned words, with only several long minutes of silence as his immediate reply. It gave her a little time to cool her nerves again, but not by much. She wasn't giving up; she waited, scowling at him, determined to get an answer.

It was a long time coming. She wondered if he would tell her straight if that was what he had been up to; if he would try to deny it, or weasel out of answering somehow.

It occurred to Kayo that perhaps this was why he always took so long to answer such questions. Perhaps he used these long pauses to weigh up his words, measuring up how much he would be obliged to reveal; deciding whether he would be compelled to completely lie.

How much he could get away with twisting or evading the truth.

At last, after what seemed like hours, he split his lips again; but, infuriatingly, he only did so in order to remark:

"The maples this year… are… _nice_."

Kayo opened her own mouth to shoot back some scathing remark; then she faltered. She considered the pointlessness of her pursuit; sighing deeply to herself, half in frustration and half in resignation, she threw her own head back to look up at the rippling canopy of red leaves, as he was currently doing.

The new day had truly broken by now; seemingly endless boughs of dazzlingly red foliage wafted gently in the wind, lighting up the sky like reams of sunbeams themselves. They seemed to glow with an almost jewel-like candescence, contrasting sharply with the soft blue tones of the early-morning sky. Even as they watched, the colours changed; shadows on the leaves grew denser, the sky's depth became for pronounced, and the hues only grew richer, even more intense, as the sun rose higher. Every moment brought some miniscule change; and each tiny transformation was just as entrancing as the last had been.

"They are… yes…" Kayo said, her voice now stripped of all its ferocity. The maple tree that stretched above them – _her_ tree – seemed the fairest of them all, a towering beauty of russet red, like a tall slim lady clad in a kimono of glistening crimson brocade. Its colour seemed to have just a little more fire than its neighbours; a lustre brought on by the extra determination it had to keep reaching on upward, towards the perfect sky above.

_To keep on living..._

"The tree this year," she murmured, admiringly, "it really is… magnificent."

"So it is."

Nothing more needed to be said. They simply sat in companionable silence, marvelling at the riot of vibrant hues that arched upward, with inherent grace and confidence, high above their heads.

* * *

_Author's note: so, on it goes. Thank you for reading this far. _

_After all that happened in the last few chapters, this one doesn't have much action in it; but the story is in its final slide towards the end now. It's all about creating that final bit of closure. Kayo's mother was something I really wanted to address, ever since I first mentioned her, way back in Chapter 5. Her death would have had a huge effect on Kayo in her formative years, and I wanted her to look back on it as an adult, with all the new knowledge that she has. Her reappearance in the Umi Bozu story-arc showed that because of her experience with the medicine seller, she was now thinking more about supernatural things and was willing to ask him questions. Since the supernatural has now affected her personally, imagined she would further question its influence; she would logically begin to wonder if the jubokko's actions effected other things from that time, back when the foundations for its curse were laid. I initially entertained the thought of having Kayo's mother somehow part of the kotowari; but having her death as one of those freak accident that just occur, without rhyme or reason, somehow seemed to make it more poignant. Now that Kayo has had all her doubts put to rest, I imagine she can go on living a peaceful, ordinary life._

_As for the medicine seller: I was tempted to write his first line of dialogue in Japanese, but thought it would be too much of a departure. In my head, his 'ohayou' when he says good-morning to Kayo is on par with the 'domo' he says when he first appears in the Nue arc; that line always cracks me up!_

_There is still a bit more to go; a few more loose ends to tie up, so 1-2 chapters more, I'm not sure exactly how many yet, or when the next will be._

_If you are a long-term reader and have come this far, thank you for your patience, I hope it has been enjoyable, and please stay tuned for the last little bit!_

_Cheers,_

_~ W.J._

* * *

_Edit to add: I have started a new Mononoke story! It is a crossover with the Onmyoji films, and it is called 'Shamichoro'. I will hopefully update 'Jubokko' soon, but in the meantime, feel free to go over and have a look at 'Shamichoro' as well, __so far_ there is a prologue, with the first chapter probably posted up soon. Hope you like it!


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